Going Under
by ChelseaDagger14
Summary: What if Zach and Cammie had never met, but they went on a mission later in life? Zammie! Multiple POVs
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Cammie POV

I sat in my office and yawned for what had to have been the third time in the past five minutes. I gulped down another coffee. It has been almost two months since I've been on a mission. And as much as I enjoyed having some time to relax, my exceedingly boring desk job was just not cutting it in the action department. Unfortunately, to maintain a believable cover, I actually had to do work. This means, that for the third night in a row, I have to stay until eight o'clock at night in my large law firm doing paralegal work on a case. I was hardly the last person there, all the starting lawyers stayed until at least nine every night. How they did it, I will never know.

Finally satisfied with the memo I had just finished writing; I packed my things into my messenger bag and headed out the door as many of the other employees shot me looks of jealousy. Working in New York City had its perks, one of them being the fact that I did not need to own a car. I whistled for a taxi and sat wearily down on the seat as he asked me where I wanted to go.

"8th Avenue please," I stated and looked out my window to zone out until we had reached my apartment. Somehow, even on a Wednesday, the Manhattan streets were as busy as ever. I walked up to my apartment building and took out my key from the pocket of my bag. In my half-unconscious state, I managed to drop it, which turned out to be quite lucky.

As I bent down to get the key, I noticed the mat on the floor outside my door. My mind immediately flashed back to that first Coveops class that Mr. Solomon had ever taught us. _Notice things…_ His voice said in the back of my mind. Right now, I was noticing the fact that my welcome mat had tilted to a completely different angle than I had left it at this morning. Being the last apartment at the end of the hall, no one could have moved it accidently unless they were coming specifically to _my _apartment. I immediately became paranoid.

I bent down, picked up my key and put a hand to my forehead as I made a face as though I had forgotten something. "Damnit…" I whispered under my breath, just loudly enough to put on a show for anyone that might be watching, hoping to fool them. I took the stairs back down with a plan forming in the back of my mind. Instead of exiting through the front of the building, I took the back door out.

The cold air burst through the door as I warily climbed the fire escape, careful not to make any noise. I suddenly wished that I hadn't chosen this day to wear my new pencil skirt. It was the middle of October and freezing outside, and I was wide awake now. I almost hoped there was a bad guy in my apartment, just so that I didn't go through all this extra effort for nothing.

As I approached my window, it occurred to me that I had no weapons on me, and although the chances of meeting a terrorist were slim, I didn't want to go into a fight unarmed. I rustled through the items in my bag and found nothing but papers and folders. _That's just great Cammie. _I thought to myself. _You can paper cut him to death. _I reluctantly pulled the metal chopstick out of my hair that I had used to carelessly put it up this morning, making a mental note to start carrying around concealed weapons.

I took a big breath as I opened my window slowly and stepped in, closing it behind me. I clutched my chopstick as I stepped softly around my apartment in the dark. Sure enough, as I silently approached my hallway leading out of the apartment, I saw a big dark figure lounging in my chair. I resisted the urge to gasp. Whoever it was did not appear to have realized my presence as of yet. I still had the element of surprise.

I adjusted myself to a fighting stance and crept up on the figure from behind. A head snapped around as whoever it was finally heard me, and I went for a roundhouse kick to the head. (Which, let me tell you, not the easiest thing to do in a pencil skirt...) I grinned as it made contact. I must have caught the person off guard, as they were clearly expecting me to come through the door, not from behind. I kneed the person in the stomach as they tried to grab my wrist. They fell to the ground and I pounced on top of them, pressing my chopstick to the base of their throat. If I pushed hard enough, I would be able to stab my chopstick through their throat and cut off air supply, killing them quickly. However, I would never do that, and would be much more likely to just press their pressure points, making them pass out, then throw them on some street corner. I was hoping that whoever I had pressed under me wouldn't try to call my bluff.

I pulled off my attackers mask to reveal a boy about my age, no more than 21 or 22. Did I mention that he was one of the most attractive boys I've seen in my 21 years of life? He looked photoshopped, and had the most striking green eyes I've ever seen. This I tried to ignore.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now." I growled, trying to sound intimidating.

The boy smirked. "Well for one, I'm CIA. Though I doubt that you would care, seeing as your plan of tackling me and pressing your very scary knitting needle to my trachea worked." He mocked.

I smirked back. Clearly he had forgotten that I still held the position of power. "And I should believe you when you say that you're CIA because…?" I said as I increased the pressure on the chopstick.

"If you would maybe get off of me for a second, I could get out my badge. Or you know…. you could always reach into my pocket and get it for me…" He trailed off and smirked again. It was really starting to piss me off.

I glared at him and let him up, one hand around the pressure points on the back of his neck, my other hand still on the chopstick threatening his throat. I glared at him in his mirth filled eyes, careful not to get lost in them. "Try anything and I'll shove this thing straight in your throat."

"Oh," He raised an eyebrow at me. "I believe you." He said as he got up with both of his hands raised in the air as if he was being arrested. He slowly lowered his hand into his pocket, brining out an id. I snatched it from him as I scrutinized it.

**Agent Zachery A. Goode**

I looked from him to the card several times, before finally lowering my chopstick and taking my hand off his pressure point. "Why are you here?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, if you had waited about ten seconds before jumping me, I would have told you that you have a mission. _We_ have a mission, actually." He put his hand out in front of him. "Zach Goode."

I shook it hesitantly. "Cammie Morgan."

"I know." He smirked, which just made me roll her eyes. "So Cammie, any reason in particular you chose a knitting needle? I mean a knife, I can understand, bu-"

"Actually, it's a chopstick, and it was the only thing I had. By the way, I still managed to beat you, so don't even pretend you aren't impressed." I said as I twirled it back through my hair. "What is this mission that you're talking about now?"

He grabbed a bag off her chair, which he was sitting on before I attacked him. He pulled out a blue folder and tossed it to me. "This is your cover- learn it. I'll be here at 8 tomorrow morning. Don't worry about your job, the director has it covered. Pack for warm weather. See you tomorrow." He winked as he left the room, leaving me speechlessly staring at the blue folder that held my new identity.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cammie POV

I woke up this morning with my bags packed, reading my cover over for what had to have been the tenth time.

Name: Savannah Hunter

Age: 22

Appearance: Thin, wavy blonde hair, blue eyes

Description: Wealthy debutante, currently lives in Beverly Hills, CA with her husband, owns 2 dogs, in her childhood was a musical prodigy, has overseen a vast railroad of information networks between a French terrorist group for approximately one year

Personality: Commanding, enjoys attention, proud, witty

Relationship: Married to Logan Hunter for approximately one year

I was sitting on my suitcase facing away from the door to my bedroom, listening and waiting for a knock, considering Zach was already 5 minutes late. Suddenly, I was pushed onto the floor as someone came tackling me from behind. I looked up to see myself pinned to the ground by no other than Zachery Goode himself.

"Not so fun now, is it Gallagher Girl?" He mocked, pressing himself on top of me.

"How do you know I'm from Gallagher?" I snapped at him, wiggling a bit under the pressure, which just made him hold me down harder.

He smirked and lifted one hand to point to himself while he said "Spy."

I took this opportunity to twist his hand behind his back and roll him over, so that I was now on top. "Well, Blackthorne Boy. You aren't the only spy here." I said in his ear. I had no idea if he went to Blackthorne or not, but judging by his shocked expression, I had guessed correctly.  
>"Let's go." I said and stood up, grabbing my suitcase.<p>

Zach pushed himself off from the floor and took the handle of her other suitcase, opening the door and gesturing for me to walk through. "After you m'lady," He said in a British accent. I just glared at him and walked to the elevator. I still had not completely forgiven him for breaking and entering into my apartment last night.

When we reached the front of my building, I raised my hand to motion for a taxi. He grabbed my arm and shook his head, smiling. "You are a wealthy young debutante now, dear. Wealthy young debutantes do not ride taxis." He whispered in my ear.

I turned my head so our faces were only inches apart. "Really?" I said drawing out the vowels. "Well then, I do hope you have a car, because I am sure as hell not walking."

He just smirked and started walking towards a red Ferrari with the top down, swinging my bag over his shoulder and into the back seat, his arm muscles flexing. I tried not to stare.

He grabbed my other bag and I opened the car door to slide into the passenger seat. A few seconds later, he was next to me, putting the keys into the ignition.

"Zach." I said his name as we stopped at a red light.

"Hm?" He said, looking lost in thought out the front of the car.

"The folder you gave me was a nice description of my cover, but told me absolutely nothing of the actual mission. Care to enlighten?"

"Patience, Gallagher Girl. I'll answer anything of your questions on the plane. Oh, and in the glove box there's our wedding rings. The CIA is going to be pretty strict about maintaining our covers, since we're pretending to be real people here, not just some creation of someone in Langley." He said as I pulled out three rings, two for me and one for him.

I stared at what had to have been the largest diamond I had ever seen in my life. I cautiously slipped it on my left ring finger and handed Zach his ring. "Where are the real Hunters?" I asked, marveling at how my ring glinted in the sunlight.

Zach snorted. "Probably locked up deep in some CIA cell somewhere, never to see sunlight again."

Against my will, I thought of my father, and imagined what it could be like for him- to be locked up and to never see daylight. I changed the subject. "Well, I hope that there's going to be some time to shop when we get wherever you're taking me, because my wardrobe doesn't exactly scream 'rich young terrorist from the hills' if you know what I mean."

Zach laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I might actually have to get some new clothes myself as well."

We got to the airport and boarded our plane. I took the window seat and Zach sat down right next to me. "Now can you tell me?" I asked impatiently, not three seconds after we had sat down.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Geez Gallagher Girl, just can't wait can you? Alright. In three days time, the Hunters will be hosting a party. Many important high-ranking people within the terrorist network will be attending. They have been communicating with the Hunters for about a year via email and phone conversations. They have never met in person. A few officials wanted to meet with the Hunters to pass a microchip containing important nuclear codes. Hence, the party. Here are the transcripts of all their phone conversations and their emails. Everything the enemy knows about the Hunters are on these papers. It' the job of us and a few other agents to get the microchip and to take into custody whichever people are in possession of it. Problem is, there will be some civilians coming to the party too, and we can't really be sure who is a civilian, and who is a terrorist." He explained as he leaned his head back and rested it on the back of the seat.

I nodded my head, taking it all in. "Other agents?" I asked.

"Yeah, the director came to me a few days ago and asked me to assemble a six person team." He said, not opening his eyes.

"And you chose me because….?" I said, trailing off.

"Well for one, you fit the description. You have an impressive file….. Also because you're hot." I hit him on the head with my file, not knowing whether to be pissed or flattered. "What!" He asked innocently. "I didn't want an ugly wife."

"What about the other agents? Did they all get a nice little visit to their apartments, or was I the only one who got to have that pleasure?" I asked sarcastically.

"Actually, no; you're just special like that." He smirked. "You actually might know a couple of the other agents; I believe they went to Gallagher as well."

"Really?" I perked up, now interested. I had always looked forward to seeing any of my sisters.

"Yeah ummm…." He trailed off, trying to remember. "Rebecca Baxter and some chick named McHenry. Nancy, maybe?" He looked at me, but I was just staring at him, open mouthed.

"You picked Bex Baxter and Macey McHenry to go on this mission?" I whisper yelled.

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"No!" I was practically bouncing in my seat out of excitement. "That is amazing! Omigosh I can't wait." I wondered why neither of them called me to tell me they had a mission. I had just spoken to Bex on the phone a couple of days ago, and Macey and I went out to lunch last Saturday. Then again, I hadn't known that I had a mission until last night either.

Zach looked at me, amusement in his green eyes. "Alright chica, you can calm down now, maybe stop hopping around in your seat. It's a six hour flight, and I don't want to spend it next to a spider monkey. Get some sleep; we're going to have a lot of stuff to do once we land."

I sighed and slinked lower down into my seat, slowly drifting off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Zach POV

I pretended to read a case file as I watched Cammie close her eyes and fall asleep. She looked so cute when she slept… so innocent and fragile…

_Can it Goode._ I thought to myself, shaking my head. _This is the girl that almost killed you with a chopstick last night. _Still, I couldn't stop myself from sneaking looks at her out of the corner of my eye. God, she was cute.

Suddenly, the plane jerked, and her head landed on my shoulder. I was afraid she would wake up, but she just stirred a bit in her sleep and muttered something unintelligible. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her neck. Maybe I would get some sleep too…

I woke up to Cammie wriggling around, trying to get out from under my arm as the flight attendants announced that we would be landing shortly. Somehow, my arm had slid down to her waist, while my other arm held her to my chest as my head rested on the top of her hair. Needless to say, I was quite comfortable.

"Zach. Would you please get off of me?" She whispered, an obvious edge to her voice.

"Really? You didn't seem to mind cuddling a couple hours ago Sleeping Beauty." What can I say? It's fun to piss her off.

"Fine. I tried asking nicely." She stopped moving around and kicked me in the shin. Hard. I resisted the urge to flinch, but pulled my arms away from her.

She smiled smugly and sat back down in her seat as people started to pull their bags off from the overhead compartments. "You should be nicer to me you know." I said. "I am your husband after all." Her eyes squinted as she glared at me.

I smirked and stood up. Once we were back in the airport, I turned to whisper in her ear. "So here's the plan. We have until tomorrow to get into our covers- buy clothes, get some R&D nerds to do us some research, make up some fun 'family' story to use as small talk at the party, whatever. We just need to make sure that when we step into the Hunter's house tomorrow morning, we are the perfect embodiment of them, and no one will question otherwise. Granted, we have a few more days until the party, but you never know who is watching."

She nodded as I leaned away from her face before I could inhale more of her intoxicating scent. "When are the others coming? Bex and Macey?" She asked.

"Rebecca Baxter's flight is to arrive in about three or four more hours, along with her partner, Grant Newman. We can come pick them up after we go get checked into our hotel for tonight. Macey McHenry and Nick Cross are coming at around ten tomorrow morning."

As I pulled her large, heavy suitcase through the airport, I couldn't help but complain. "For someone who's buying an entirely new wardrobe, you sure didn't pack light." I said as I dragged it to the car lot outside.

"That someone might have known to pack lighter if her partner hadn't chosen to keep her in the dark about the details of the mission until the last minute." She sniped back. I rolled my eyes as I flung her bag into the back of the black sports car the CIA had provided us.

"Oh my god." She looked very annoyed as she slid into the passenger seat. "How many cars did the agency buy for this mission?"

"Five." I stated simply, turning my keys. "But the one back at New York was mine." I smirked and revved the engine, feeling totally badass. She just stared at me, completely unimpressed.

_Damn._ I thought as I clenched my hand on the steering wheel. _What does it take to get this girl to like me? _Normally by this point girls would fall all over me. Not Cammie, apparently. It was like trying to charm a brick wall. A witty, intelligent, not to mention beautiful brick wall.

We carried our bags into the hotel that we were staying at for the night. I approached the young receptionist at the counter.

"I have a reservation under Hunter." I said as I leaned across the counter.

"Of course sir," She said as she tapped a few keys on the computer before turning around to grab me a key. She batted her eyelashes at me few times before wishing us a good stay. Unbelievable. She thought I was a married man, yet she still tried to flirt with me.

I turned the keys to the hotel room and Cammie walked into the room and let her suitcase fall on the floor as she jumped face first onto the bed and let out a long sigh. I couldn't help but laugh. "Long night or something?" I questioned.

"Yes, actually, Zachary." She rolled over and sat up to stare at me accusingly. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night because I was worried some idiot might break into my house or something."

"Oh wow." I said, nodding and looking into her eyes sincerely. "I hope you had a lot of chopsticks lying around so you could defend yourself."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to the mini kitchen. I sat down on the spot she just vacated on the bed. "What'chya doing?" I asked, leaning back on the bed frame.

"Making a sandwich. I haven't eaten since seven this morning." She explained as she pulled bread out of the well stocked cupboards.

"Make me one too. I'm starved." I said, closing my eyes.

Her movement stopped abruptly. "What did you just say?" She asked. I knew from the tone of her voice I was in trouble, I just wasn't quite sure why.

I opened my eyes. Like an idiot, I repeated myself, not quite sure what she wanted me to say. "I said: 'Make me one too, I'm starved.'"

She put the butter knife down on the table and looked at me in the eyes. "Do you know what happened to the last boy who told a Gallagher Girl to make him a sandwich, Zach?" She said as if talking to a first grader. I shook my head no, not really wanting to know the answer.

"He woke up castrated. Make your own damn sandwich." She said, turning back around and continued what she was doing before.

"Fine. No need to be pushy." I said, getting up off the bed.

We spent the next couple of hours at the small coffee table, fabricating stories about the Hunter's personal lives, so that if anyone asked at the party, our answers would match up.

We were back at the airport a few hours later, waiting for Grant and her friend. "Bex is my friend, so just… be nice." She hissed into my ear as people began to flood into the waiting area.

"I'll see what I can do." I smirked back at her.

"BEX!" Cammie squealed loudly and ran to squeeze the caramel skinned girl coming towards us.

When Cammie finally unlatched herself from the girl, she decided to introduce me. "Bex, this is Zach, Zach- Bex." She said as I stuck my hand out in front of me.

"Charmed." I said in a British accent, smirking straight at Cammie.

"Oh, are you British!" I was surprised to hear an authentic accent coming from the girl's mouth. Guess I should have actually read her file instead of just looking at her picture.

"No," Cammie answered for me. "Just an ass."

I would have responded, but just then someone had grabbed me from behind and was squeezing the life out of me. "Zachy!" I heard the deep voice of my friend Grant exclaim.

"Dude, let go, you're choking me." I managed to say despite lack of air.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly and let go of me, standing next to Bex and putting his arm around her shoulder. She stared at his hand as if it were a poisonous snake, but he either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it. "I'm Grant." He said, shaking Cammie's hand.

"Cammie." She replied.

"Man, I'm so hungry!" Grant complained. "Airplane food is crap!"

"Shhhh…" I said, loud enough for the girls to hear. "Don't talk about food near Cammie; she'll threaten to cut your balls off in your sleep…"

Bex shot Cammie a look and she shrugged. "He told me to make him a sandwich."

Bex rolled her eyes. "Idiot…" She mumbled under her breath.

We drove them back to the hotel so they could drop off their bags, and then headed to the mall so we could buy new clothes to fit our covers. Grant and I were reasonable, and both bought new ties and a new dress shirt each.

The girls however, went all out, and we spent a painful amount of time there, not getting back to the room until eleven at night. As Cammie went into the bathroom to change, I finally noticed the fact that there was only one bed.

Assuming she would make me sleep on the floor, I started to lay out blankets on the hardwood. Cammie came out of the bathroom in very short shorts and a tank top. I tried my hardest not to stare. She noticed.

"You told me to dress for warm weather, now stop staring." She said, clearly embarrassed. She noticed what I was doing and sighed. "You don't need to sleep on the floor Zach. I'm a big girl; I think I can sleep in the same bed as you for one night." She said as she pulled the covers up around her.

"Are you sure?" I questioned. I was more than happy to accept her offer, but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

"Just so long as you know that if you touch me, you're a dead man." She murmured, her eyes already starting to drift closed.

I chuckled as I picked the blankets up off the floor and went to change into a pair of sweats. When I came out, Cammie was already asleep. I turned out the light and slid into the bed next to her, lulled to sleep by the sound of her rhythmic breathing and the feeling of her warm presence only inches away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Zach POV

I woke up with my hand tangled in Cam's hair, with her head resting on my chest. _Well, _I thought. _At least our subconsciouses seem to get along._

I peeked at the alarm clock. 8:30 already. We had less than half an hour to get ready before driving back to the airport to pick up Nick and what's-her-name.

I took a second to enjoy the moment before I cautiously unwound myself from Cammie, knowing that if she woke up while we were still in this position, she would probably kick me again. I knelt next to her side of the bed, shaking her shoulders softly.

"Gallagher Girl." I said. "It's time to wake up."

She groaned. "No. Go away." She pulled the comforter over her head.

"Cammie." I saw her curl up into a little ball underneath the covers. I sighed and poked her back. "Sweetheart, you have to wake up."

She popped her head out from under the blanket, her eyes now open and full of mirth. "Sweetheart?" She asked in a devilishly taunting voice.

_Oh crap, _The voice in my head chided. _Did I really just call her that? What the hell is wrong with me? _There wasn't much I could do about it now except play along.

"Sure, unless you would prefer Honey, or Darling, or something else. I'll call you whatever you want if you would get your pretty little butt moving so that we can go soon." I smirked.

She pulled the blanket back over her head. "Not a chance."

I was about to pick her up when the door slammed open and I heard a British voice yell. "CAMERON MORGAN! Get your ass out of bed right now!" Bex started to walk towards the bed and Cammie jumped up quickly.

"I'm up, I swear, I'm up!" She said frantically as she tried to smooth down her hair.

I was slightly hurt. "How come you'll get up when she tells you to, but not me?" I asked.

"Because," Bex answered for her. "Fear is a better motivator than annoyance."

She turned to Cammie. "You do realize that if you see Macey McHenry looking like that, she'll pop a vein. I need to get you ready. You." She said pointing to me. "Get out."

I looked to Cammie for help, but she just shrugged at me. "Where am I supposed to go?" I asked. "This is my room too, you know."

She had already turned around and waved a dismissive hand at me. "Go babysit Grant or something, I have work to do."

I grabbed a change of clothes before going across the hall to Bex and Grant's suite. Grant was already up; eating what appeared to be scrambled eggs. "Hey man!" He had always been a morning person, even back at Blackthorne. "You and Cammie have a nice night?" He asked suggestively, then winked.

"Yes." I growled. "It was very nice until your girlfriend showed up and started yelling."

Grant sighed dreamily and looked off into the distance. "Yeah, that's my British Bombshell alright. Don't you just love her?" He asked.

I was about to mumble something about love not being the first emotion that comes to mind when we heard Cammie scream from the other room. "BEX! That hurt! And I am _not _wearing that."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, she's a real delicate flower." I went to get changed into my "Mr. Hunter" clothes. I looked in the mirror. Ugh, I looked like I belonged in a country club. I ran a hand through my brown hair, reminding myself it was only for a few days.

I walked out of the bathroom just as Bex walked in and announced that they were ready. Just then, Cammie stepped into the doorway, and I got a good look at her. She was beautiful- her hair was shining and her white sundress hugged her body effortlessly. Unlike me, the look was very natural on her, and she looked like she belonged on Sunset Strip. The only thing wrong with the whole ensemble was the scowl on her face, clearly showing that she wanted nothing to do with the outfit.

"Well Gallagher Girl… You look… Uncomfortable." I smirked.

She rolled her eyes and pushed her sunglasses higher up on her head. "Like you don't. Here let me help you. God, you two are hopeless." She came closer and tousled my hair with her hand, then untucked my shirt and smoothed my collar down while Bex did the same with Grant.

"Better." They both agreed.

We checked out of the hotel and took two separate cars to the airport. We stood in the exact same terminal that we had yesterday to pick up Bex and Grant. "So," I leaned down to speak softly into her ear, hoping she might shiver or something. She didn't. "Do I have to be nice to this one too, or is that just Bex?"

Cammie snorted. "No, Macey will be a bitch to you whether you're nice or not." That's when the agent from the picture came into view.

She strutted towards us with spidery long legs. Cammie and Bex both made high pitched noises and ran to hug her. I noticed she was carrying nothing but a small handbag. So did Cammie, apparently.

"Oh," She said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder after Cammie asked where her stuff was. "I had the kid carry it for me." I glanced towards where she had gestured behind her, and saw my friend Nick struggling to drag at least 5 large bags behind him, looking like he was in hell. I went to go help him.

"I'm going to kill her, I swear to god I am." He said as Grant and I both helped take one of the bags for him.

"Calm down Mr. Thompson." I said, referring to his cover. "She's your fiancée, remember? At least wait until the end of the mission."

He grumbled something about throwing her suitcase off the Golden Gate bridge as we walked back over to the girls, who were already all deep in conversation.

"Alright." I said, talking loudly over the girls to get them to quiet down. "Let's go over covers one last time before we all get to the house." I turned to Cammie.

"We're the Hunters, hosts of the party, married, whatever, blah, blah, blah." She said, putting her sunglasses on. I turned to Grant and Bex.

"We're the Petrovs from Baltimore, been dating for over a year, friends of the Hunters and are staying one of their guest rooms for a week so we can go to the party." Grant nodded and answered.

I looked to Macey and Nick. Nick was standing there looking miserable while Macey was filing her nails. _Where did she even..? Whatever. _I cleared my throat and Macey looked up at me with a bored expression.

"Thompsons, engaged, New York, can we go now?" She said, barely looking up at me. She turned around and started walking away, not even attempting to take one of her suitcases. I shot a look of pity at Nick.

Cammie smirked at me. "Told you." She said. I grabbed my keys and abandoned Nick and Grant to deal with the suitcases.

I saw Cammie's eyes widen as my car approached the large, gated mansion on top of a hill. She raised her sunglasses and stared open mouthed. "Where the heck are we? Scarlet O'Hara's plantation? I didn't think places like this actually existed…" She said, awestruck.

"This, my dear, is our country home." I said while smirking at her.

She smirked back as I pulled in the driveway, with the other two cars following close behind. "Whatever you say… sweetheart…" I cringed internally while opening the passenger door for her to walk out.

We could hear Macey and Nick already bickering about who had to bring the bags in. As Cammie opened the front entrance to the house, there was a chorus of barking, and two small rat-like creatures came running in our direction.

"Oh my gosh!" I heard Bex croon from behind me. "Pomeranians! I love these dogs!" One jumped up and started licking Cammie's face while the other one weaved in and out of Bex's legs excitedly.

Cammie checked its tags. "Its name is Chanel." She said while it attacked her mouth and nose with its tongue.

"Damn Zach," Grant snickered in my ear. "You've got competition." I rolled my eyes and stared at the little white thing. I've always been more of a big dog kind of guy.

"This one's Coco." Nick said, holding the other dog an arm's length away from him as if it was poisonous.

I grabbed Cammie's arm and pulled her up the stairs. "Let's go unpack." I told her, while she pulled her bags behind her. When we got into the master bedroom, we checked for bugs or cameras, thankfully, finding none.

Content that we weren't being watched or recorded, I ushered the other two couples into the room. "So," Macey started saying. "What exactly are we supposed to _do_ until this party of yours?"

"Just a bit of reconnaissance. There are a few people that the CIA told us specifically to look out for, so it would be good if we could go into the party with a bit of an idea on who's a terrorist and who isn't." I said, leaning back into a chair and resting my feet on the coffee table in front of me.

"This is Marcus Morel." I said, pulling a picture out a middle-aged man out of my back pocket. "CIA has had their eye on him for a while, but never really got anything solid enough to lock him away. He's coming to the party, so we're going to break into his house tonight."

"Tonight!" Macey said, leaning forward. "Ugh, we have so much work to do…" She said, grabbing both Cammie and Bex's hands and dragging them across the hall.

"Be ready by ten!" I yelled after them, just before they all disappeared behind the door to her room.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry if the plot is a little slow this chapter guys, it'll pick up next chapter, I promise. Thanks for all the reviews, and anyone who favorite or subscribed to the story things like that really motivate me to write!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Cammie POV

After being poked, prodded, and delivered a much needed refresher course on weapons concealment, I was standing downstairs with the girls, all of us dressed from head to toe in form-fitting back clothes that we could easily move around in. The boys walked down the spiral staircase. Grant was carrying a length of black zip line with a grappling hook attached to the end.

Zach threw us three black ski masks. "In case someone catches a glimpse of us, we don't want to be recognized at the party." All three of us nodded, then headed into a white van, Grant driving and Bex riding shotgun.

"What happened to your sports car?" I asked, teasing him.

"As much as I enjoy it, it is a bit too conspicuous for this particular setting, don't you think Gallagher Girl?" He responded.

As we drove, Zach explained the layout of Morel's house, showing us the blueprints. "Macey and Nick, you two will use the underground 'entrance' and come out into the basement. Check that out and see if there's anything suspicious. Report everything back on the comms."

"Underground entrance? Which is what exactly?" Macey hissed, scouring the blueprints in search of it.

"He means the sewers Mace." Nick said, rolling his eyes.

"SEWERS!" Macey whisper-yelled, horrified. "These are expensive black sneakers; I can't just traipse around through the _sewers_." Nick sighed and put his hand over her mouth to stop her from complaining.

Zach looked at him appreciatively before continuing. "Bex and Grant will scale the building and go to the roof. Cover everything up there including the first floor." They both nodded from the front of the car. He turned to me.

"Cammie, you and I will go through one of the windows on the main floor and check stuff out. We're also in charge of the courtyard. Marcus is notorious for being out partying until late every night, so just as long as we're out of his place by three, I'd say we're fine." Zach finished.

"OW!" Nick yelped in pain and everyone shushed him. He stared at his hand disbelievingly. "She bit me!" I giggled at Macey.

"I hope someone brought comms units." She said as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, I have them Cujo. Can I get them out, or are you going to bite me again?" Nick said while reaching into his pocket slowly. He tossed us each one as Grant announced that we were here.

We broke into our pairs and walked in different directions. As Zach and I approached a window big enough to squeeze through, I heard Macey let out a small shriek over the comms unit. "I think I just felt a rat!" I couldn't help but laugh at her misfortune.

She heard. "Don't you dare laugh at me Chameleon! Or I'll…. I'll…. I'll tell everyone about that time you got drunk on the Berlin mission." She snapped at me.

I stopped laughing. "You wouldn't." I said seriously. It's not like I had much of a choice. My cover was a floozy, so I had to be as well. Even in the dark, I could feel Zach smirk at me.

"I would." She taunted.

Zach crawled through the window then helped me in. It was dark and none of the lights were on, so we both pulled out miniature flashlights and started to poke around. I realized that we had crawled into Morel's office.

I tried to pull open a file cabinet, only to find it locked. I pulled a bobby pin out of my hair and started to pick it while Zach sat down at the computer and tapped on the keys, trying to hack in. The file cabinet popped open. I rustled through the papers, not entirely sure what I was looking for.

I was about to ask Zach when I saw something that made me freeze. My mother's name was on one of the files. Morgan, Rachel. I pulled the file out and started to flip through it. It didn't say much; just that she was CIA and then listed a few missions that she was on. But they had her picture, which was enough to scare me.

Zach must have noticed my sudden lack of movement, because when he looked up from the computer he came over, worried. "Cammie? What is it? What did you find?"

I handed him the file wordlessly. "Is that your mother?" He asked softly. I nodded. "It's okay Cams. We're gonna get this Marcus guy and then you won't have to worry about it anymore." He said, putting a reassuring arm around my shoulder and putting the file back where I found it. It felt good when he put his arm around me, it made me feel safe.

"Uhm, guys?" Bex voice cracked in over the comms unit. "I don't mean to interrupt anything, but I think we've found something, you all better come check this out." Zach took his arm off from around me and held his arm out to help me up.

As we made our way up the stairs, we heard a distant banging noise, something that sounded suspiciously like gunshots. Zach and I broke out into a run, bursting through the doors to the roof just as a pair of arms spun me around and put a hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming.

I was about to fight back when I saw the owner of the arms. It was Bex. I sighed, relieved. She released me and Grant did the same with Zach. "What's going on you guys?" I asked, confused.

"Well, we were out here looking around, as per your recommendation, when we heard the gunshots." Grant explained. "We were a tad freaked at first, but then we saw where they were coming from." Grant pointed off the roof, out into the dark field.

"I… I don't see anything." I said, confused.

"Here, try these." Bex said, handing me a pair of night vision sunglasses.

I slipped them on and immediately saw what Grant was referring to. "It's some sort of… shooting range." I said, handing the sunglasses to Zach.

"What kind of guns are they using?" I asked Bex.

"I don't know." She admitted. "We're too far away to tell."

Zach shushed us. We were silent for a few seconds until we heard another shot. Zach closed his eyes. "That's defiantly one of the new XM8 assault rifles… I'd say with at least… 5.56 millimeter NATO cartridges?" He questioned, looking at Grant.

Grant nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right." Bex and I stared at them.

"How did you…? I mean, how can you-?" I asked, impressed.

Zach tilted his head to the side while looking at me. "Gun recognition class at Blackthorne. You didn't do that? Huh…" He said with a teasing air of superiority.

"What is that supposed to mean!" I asked, annoyed with his tone of voice. He didn't have a chance to answer, because at that moment I was grabbed from behind.

Assuming it was just Macey, or Bex again, I rolled my eyes. "You better let me go…" I said.

"No," Said a voice laced with a thick French accent that defiantly did not belong to either Bex or Macey, or any of the boys for that matter. I was suddenly grateful for the ridiculous ski mask I was wearing. "I don't think I will be doing that." I froze as I felt the barrel of a gun press to my temple. "Move and she dies." He said coldly and started backing up.

I looked to Zach, who had been reaching for what was probably a weapon. He was frozen too. He met my gaze, and in his eyes I saw nothing but fear. I was surprised at how clearly readable his emotions were at that moment. _Shouldn't he be able to hide his feelings better than that? He is a spy after all…_ I thought.

I moved my foot and tried to kick the man in his instep, but he just laughed and cocked his gun. "Ah, ah ah." He said, as if he were trying to calm down a bucking horse. "Feisty." He spoke directly in my ear. "I think I'll enjoy this…"

He leaned down to my exposed neck and kissed it, inhaling deeply, his hand never moving from the trigger. "Mhm..." He whispered into my neck. "Lavender…"

This was Zach's breaking point. "Don't you _dare _touch her." He stated, in a voice that was more terrifying than the weapon currently pressed to my head.

"What's this?" The man perked up, thankfully taking his face away from my neck. "You have a boyfriend?" He taunted, looking at Zach.

Next thing I knew, there was a crack, and his gun clattered across the roof. Bex dived for it and I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me and draw me close to them, holding me. I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

I looked out from my warm, safe little fort to see Macey McHenry with her arms around the neck of a tall, muscled man. "Nope." She hissed. "But she has a girlfriend." She pressed his pressure points and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Everyone paused to catch their breath and I realized that Zach was still hugging me close to his chest. "Are you okay?" He asked, worried. I felt his hands brush gently down my arms and back, checking for any wounds.

"I'm fine Zach." I said, becoming conscious of the fact that everyone was staring at us. I stepped away and went to walk over the man to see his face. It was Morel- no surprises there.

I held in a shudder and then went to go hug Macey. "Thank you so much." I whispered.

"No problem Cams." She said, hugging me tightly before letting go. "Just try not to make it a regular thing, okay?" I laughed and turned to the others.

The boys were all still staring at me cautiously, like I might burst into tears at any given moment or something. "I'm fine you guys, really." I assured them.

"He didn't see anyone's face, did he?" Bex asked, handing the gun to Grant with two fingers like it was a spider. I shook my head. Grant threw the gun off the roof and into the tall grassy fields.

"Well then let's get out of here before the pervert wakes up." Suggested Nick, and Zach put his hand around my waist as we went back down the stairs and climbed out the window that we had first come in through. We all crawled back into the van and pulled our ski masks off, driving home in silence due to exhaustion.

Bex ended up falling asleep in the passenger seat, so Grant carried her in. I could tell she wasn't completely asleep due to her lack of snoring, but she didn't say anything when he picked her up. I made a mental note to tease her about it later.

When I walked back up the stairs and into Zach and my room, I found Coco and Chanel sleeping on the bed. I shuffled over to the bathroom and changed into my pajamas, brushing my teeth and washing my face in the process. I was so tired; it was as if my body was on autopilot.

When I came out, Zach was wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. I did my best not to look at his abs, knowing he would tease me if he caught me staring. He was trying to shoo the dogs off the bed. "What are you doing?" I asked weakly.

He looked at me and gestured to the sleeping Pomeranians. "Trying to get the blow-dried rats off my side of the bed." He said scornfully.

"You're sleeping on the couch." I said and pointed to the sofa on the other side of the room.

He looked at me, confused. "But… I got to sleep on the bed with you last night." He sounded like a kid who just had his favorite toy taken away.

"That was before there was a _couch_." He gaped at me, then seemed to compose himself and smirked.

"I really shouldn't let you sleep alone tonight. You're probably still in shock." He said, challenging me.

"Which is why the dogs are here." I retorted, getting under the covers, signaling the end of the argument.

He grumbled, turning out the light and grabbing a blanket to sleep on the couch. "I don't get why you'll sleep with a couple of yappy dogs but not me…" He said into the dark.

I smiled. Sometimes he made it too easy. "I don't mind dogs; its pigs I have a problem with. Get some sleep Zach." And with that I drifted into dreams.

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><p><strong>AN: Here's a longer chapter guys- with more action like I promised! Please review, and thanks to everyone who reads :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Cammie POV

I woke up feeling warm and comfortable. Too warm and comfortable, actually. I felt a strong bicep lying on my stomach, my back pressed up against his hard stomach.

"Zach." I said firmly.

"Yes?" He hummed softly into the pillow, proving he was awake.

"I believe I told you to sleep on the couch last night." I said accusingly.

"I didn't listen."

"I can tell." I picked his arm up off me and sat up, straightening my shirt. I peeked in the mirror quickly, and surprisingly did not look terrible. I smoothed down my hair a bit, then picked up a pillow off the couch and threw it at Zach's head.

"Hey!" He yelled. "I was sleeping Gallagher Girl!"

I smirked. "Not anymore." I started to walk out the door when he came up from behind me and flung me facedown over his shoulder.

"ZACH!" I shrieked, pounding my fists on his back.

"CAMMIE!" He mocked in a similarly high-pitched voice. My head bounced on his back as he walked down the stairs.

".Down." I hissed at him.

"Whatever you want sweetheart." He said before flipping me over and spinning me upside down, dropping me onto the couch. His green eyes danced over me and I glared up at him. He pushed himself off of the couch.

I sat up, smelling bacon. I drifted into the kitchen to see Grant hovering over the stove. "Hey Cams, hey Zach!" He chirped happily. I turned around to see Zach following me close behind.

"No, no. Flip the pancake, don't pet it. And you need more batter then that, stingy." I heard Grant say. I spun around and was amazed to see Bex standing with a frying pan and a spatula, trying to turn a pancake over in the pan.

"Since _when_" I asked. "Do you cook?"

Bex didn't look up, too focused on her pancakes. "Since Grant offered to teach me." She flipped the pancake over. "Got it!" She looked at Grant triumphantly.

"Hot Damn!" Grant yelled, then leaned over to kiss her neck. The weird part was that she _let _him. Bex giggled and put the pancake onto a plate, handing it to me.

_Wait- she giggled? _I thought. _Bex is giggling and she isn't causing someone pain? _

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" I asked suspiciously, taking a bite out of my surprisingly edible pancake. She narrowed her eyes and delivered a swift kick under the table. "There she is…." I grumbled, stabbing a piece of strawberry with my fork.

We heard a deep, angry yell coming from upstairs, and we all jumped up in time to see Macey run down the staircase and into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and taking a big bite out of it. Nick ran down a few seconds later, dripping wet.

We all stared with our eyes wide as Nick stomped into the kitchen, his hands clenched into fists. "Is something wrong, Nick?" Macey tilted her head, taking another bite of her apple.

Nick growled and Zach put a hand on his chest. "Dude," He said warningly. "Don't do anything you'll regret."

Nick stared at her for a few more seconds as she grinned back at him, teasing him. Then, he stepped back and his fists unclenched, his mouth curling up into a wicked smile. He turned around and started to walk back up the steps.

"Where you going Nicky?" Macey asked. Suddenly a thought seemed to dawn on her and her eyes widened in fear. "Nick?" She threw the half-eaten apple at the wall. "NICK!" He never stopped walking. "DON'T TOUCH MY CLOTHES NICK!" She yelled and ran after him.

"Well…" Grant drawled out into the stunned silence. "Anyone want some more bacon?"

Macey POV

If he so much as _touches_ any of my clothes, I will kill him. I raced up the stairs behind him, but I was too late. As I turned into my room, I saw Nick standing there with my open suitcase, scissors in hand. He picked up one of my favorite lacy tops. I started to dive for it, but he held the top above his head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" He said when I tried to jump and grab it. He pulled the scissors together a little bit, nearly cutting off one of the sleeves. I squeaked in horror, but stopped moving.

"Nick." I said through my teeth. "That top cost more than all the hookers you've ever bought combined. Put it down _now_."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Well that would be zero dollars then, so if it isn't worth anything, no harm in doing this." He said, and snipped the shirt right in half.

I shrieked and grabbed the pieces, while in my peripheral vision, I saw him pick up a pair of my Gucci stilettos. "Let's try this again." He said.

"One of the great things about these shoes is how easy it is to snap the heel off." He said. "Now, are you going to pour water on my face while I'm asleep again?"

"NO," I growled.

He smirked at me. "I don't believe you." He broke the heel off my expensive purple shoe and I saw him pick up the other one to do the same.

I had to stop him, I had to do something. He was going to ruin my entire wardrobe if I didn't. Not knowing what else to do, I leaned forward and smashed my lips against his. He was surprised for a second, but then dropped my shoe and put his hand behind my head, lacing his fingers through my hair and kissing me back hungrily.

Cammie POV

We sat downstairs, finishing out breakfast, listening to the sounds of Macey yelling and screaming. We all got a little worried when the noises suddenly stopped.

"Do you think…" Bex whispered. "Do you think she killed him?"

"I don't know…" I said. "I'll go check on them." I got up from my seat and quietly tip-toed up the stairs. I opened the door to their room and peeked inside, shocked by what I saw.

They were on the couch, _making out_. Nick was lying on top of Macey, and they both still looked a little pissed. Neither of them noticed the door had opened. I shut it softly while trying to shield my eyes.

I walked back down the stairs slowly. "Well? Are they both still alive?" Zach asked, taking a big gulp of orange juice.

"They were making out." My voice still sounded stunned. Zach choked on the juice and Grant hit him on the back.

"Did they see you?" Bex asked, her eyes as big as saucers.

"No, they were kinda busy eating each other's faces off."

"Come on!" Bex said, grabbing my arm and dragging me up the stairs.

"MACEY!" She yelled, banging on the door.

The door swung open and Nick was standing there, with no shirt on. God only knows where it went. "Can I help you?" He asked, annoyed.

"Yes." Bex said, not backing down. "You can tell Macey that, while I'm glad you two get along now, we actually have a party tonight, so you're going to have to stop sucking face for a while so we can set up for it. Savvy?" She said.

The door opened wider to reveal Macey, her hair looking a little disheveled, but other than that she was her usual stunning self. "Thanks for reminding me _Rebecca_. You can tell the others we'll be downstairs in five minutes to help, okay?" She said.

"Ten minutes." Nick growled.

She rolled her eyes. "Seven." She said, and then closed the door.

We both walked back downstairs, thoroughly disgusted. When they came back down (seven minutes later), we started to get the house ready for the party. We cleared furniture in the large living room, creating a huge open space that would be used as a ballroom. It took us almost eight hours, and the guests were coming at eight o'clock, leaving us two more hours to get ready.

Which meant two painful hours as Macey's Barbie doll. She threw ball gown after ball gown at me, all of them boasting names like 'Miu Miu' and 'Gucci'. I finally settled on a white, strapless floor length dress by Chanel. It glittered and sparkled when I moved. I wore my hair down, with it curled, reaching a little past my shoulders. All my accessories were diamonds. Macey gave me silver shimmery makeup.

When I was done, I looked in the mirror. I felt like I glowed. "Wow…" I breathed.

"I can't wait to see the guys faces…" Bex said. "Zach is going to die when he sees you Cammie…" She grinned mischievously.

"Me?" I asked. "Why me?"

"You're kidding, right?" Macey asked, putting her earrings in. "The boy is in love with you."

I gaped at her and felt my cheeks flush. "No, he isn't."

"Okay, 'Gallagher Girl'." Bex teased.

"Hey, I wouldn't talk if I were you- British Bombshell!" I retorted.

We walked down the stairs, arms linked together. The boys were waiting at the bottom, all looking very handsome in their tuxes. I looked to Zach, and saw him staring at me. Our gazes met and he broke out into the widest grin I've ever seen. He grabbed my hand and kissed it. I became very conscious of the wedding ring on my left hand.

"You look beautiful Cams." He said, then looked down at his feet. I bit my cheek to stop from grinning like an idiot.

"You look really handsome too Zach." I whispered, but I know he heard me.

He smiled even wider, and then offered me his arm. "You ready Mrs. Hunter?"

I took his arm gratefully. "Ready as I'll ever be." I said.

We heard a knock, and went over to the double doors across the ballroom to welcome in our first guests.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know everybody wanted some Zammie, and I added a little bit, but I kind of had to get the other characters together first… Sorry! Also, the story isn't going to end after the party, just an fyi. Thanks so much for all the support, and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Zach POV

I couldn't stop looking at Cammie. It was starting to become an issue. She looked like an angel. At least, more so than usual. I swear, when I saw her walking down that staircase she had a halo. It took me a good five minutes to wipe the goofy grin off my face. I wasn't really sure what was going on. No girl has ever affected me in this way before. But then again, Cammie isn't a lot like other girls.

"And that is why I don't eat mollusks." A pinched voice said. I was jerked back into reality by the sound of polite laughter. I laughed along, remembering that I had been listening to the Italian ambassador's long-winded story before I had drifted off to Cammie world.

"There you are Logan." I heard my cover name and felt a small hand rest on my shoulder. I turned around to see Cammie's brilliant face staring into mine. "I have been looking everywhere for you, I thought you had run away from me." She said, smiling slightly.

_Really, because I've been staring at you the whole night. _I thought.

"How could anyone run away from something so beautiful?" The ambassador questioned.

She smiled at him and looked to me again. "I think all the guests have arrived, should we make the toast now?" She asked, handing me a glass filled with champagne and a butter knife.

I took her arm and guided her to the front of the room. "What do I say?" I asked when I was sure no one was listening.

She shrugged. "Wing it."

I clinked my glass and cleared my throat as heads turned and all attention focused on me. "Savannah and I would like to thank you all for coming. Welcome, and enjoy the party." I smiled a fake smile, and then put an arm around Cammie while everyone continued with what they had been doing before. I turned around and saw Bex walking up to Cammie with a worried expression on her face.

"Mrs. Petrov, how nice to see you. I'm so glad to hear of your engagement." Cammie said, apparently oblivious. She was really having fun with her cover, that much I could tell.

"Oh yes, thank you. Savannah, you didn't tell me that old _colleague _of yours was invited." She said nervously, emphasizing the word colleague.

Cammie was catching on, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Oh dear, I invited many colleagues, to which one are you referring?" She asked.

"Mr. Josh Abrams." Bex said, her eyes drifting behind us. Cammie turned around and stared at a boy who was about 6 foot tall with brown hair. He was laughing with a pretty, dark haired girl, handing her a drink.

Cammie turned back to us. "Would you mind accompanying me to the kitchen to get some refreshments?" I had to give her credit, she never broke cover once.

"Sure," Bex and I both said at the same time. Only when we reached the kitchen did Cam finally seem to break down.

"What the hell is he doing here!" She whispered. "He's going to blow our cover! You don't think he's working with Morel, do you? Oh my god, this is terrible. What are we going to-"

Bex cut her off. "Relax Cams. Macey said she would take care of it. I doubt he's working with Morel, Macey said that he's married to the Senators daughter now, that's probably how he got the invite."

Cammie sighed and sat down on the counter. "Who is this guy?" I asked, confused.

"My ex." Cammie groaned.

"Oh." I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to say to that. I felt weirdly jealous.

Cammie straightened up. "Let's go back to the party; we still have a lot of work to do." She grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door, with Bex following behind us.

Cammie POV

Okay, calm down. Macey's taking care of it, nothing to worry about. Bex walked off in another direction, but Zach stayed glued to my side. I was glad, I liked being close to him. Especially now that I heard a deep voice with a French accent call my name.

"Mrs. Hunter!" I felt Zach stiffen next to me. I turned around and came face to face with Morel. He didn't seem to recognize me from the other night. "What a pleasure it is to finally meet!" He exclaimed. "You are, more ravishing then I imagined." He said, bowing deeply to kiss my hand.

Zach cleared his throat. "Ah yes, and you must be Mr. Hunter. Again, it is my honor." He smiled at Zach, then turned back to me. "I understand completely that this is a social outing, but I hoped that you wouldn't think it too rude of me to want to talk a bit of business before the night is over."

"No, of course not." I said politely. I was tried to ask where he wished to discuss such matters, but he was already talking again.

"Wonderful! First, however, I must admit that I have dearly wished to hear some of your musical talents." He said, gesturing over to the grand piano in the center of the room. "They have been so highly praised."

I tried not to panic. Madame Dabney had forced us to all learn to play a classical piece on some sort of instrument during junior year. Thankfully, I had chosen piano. I still played from time to time, finding it calming, but I seriously doubted that it would be anything up to the par of what a child prodigy could do.

Zach looked very worried. "Oh, I don't know… you're hands have been hurting you lately, and we don't want your carpal tunnel to come back, right Savannah?" He asked, trying to cover.

"Nonsense! If there is anything I've learned about your wife through our business together, it is how much she loves her music." Clearly, he was not taking no for an answer.

"It's okay darling," I said, patting Zach on the back of the hand reassuringly. "I'll play one of my old songs; I find that stretching out my hands relieves some of the tension sometimes." Zach still looked quite wary as I walked over to the piano and settled down, stretching my fingers over the familiar feel of the wooden keys.  
>The room quieted as I played the first notes of Chopin's <em>Waltz in A Minor<em>. I can only assume most of them have heard of Savannah Hunter's musical background. I could feel Zach's amazed stare the whole time, and I smiled, liking that I had surprised him.

When I finished people applauded enthusiastically, and a woman standing near the piano asked me to play more. I agreed, partly because it fit my cover to oblige, partly because I was actually enjoying myself. After finishing _Song of the Lark _by Tchaikovsky, I got up from the piano and felt Zach put his hand on the small of my back.

"Where did you learn to do that?" He whispered in my ear, too low for the people to hear.

"Culture and Assimilation class at Gallagher. You didn't do that? Huh…" I whispered back, using his words from before to mock him. I'm sure he would have said something back, but my piano playing had now gained us and audience, and Morel was now nowhere to be found.

People were gushing at me, but I was having trouble concentrating because Zach was rubbing circles on my lower back with his hand. I just tried to smile and look grateful for the compliments. "So, how long have you two been married?" I heard someone ask.

"A year," Zach said. "And every time I look at her, it's like I'm seeing her for the first time all over again." He looked down at me and my breath caught. The love in his eyes looked so _sincere_. I broke eye contact before I did something stupid.

There was a chorus of "awws" from the younger females in the group. Someone said "Kiss her!" and they all nodded in anticipation. I looked back up at Zach, and saw he was about to do it.

He was leaning down slowly, cautiously, like he was afraid I was going to reject him. Like anyone could ever possibly reject _him_. I stared up into his green eyes and found them full of what looked like love and longing. He was closing the distance between us slowly…slowly…

_Okay too slowly._ Without thinking, I grabbed his shirt collar with both my hands and pulled him towards me, closing the distance between us. I felt him gasp in surprise, but he collected himself and brought his hands up to my cheeks and kissed me back. The whole exchange only lasted a few seconds before we both pulled apart.

He was flushed and his shirt was rumpled, a bit of lipstick on his face. I giggled and licked my thumb, wiping his lip off. His lips parted a bit under my touch, but then he smirked at me and the cocky jerk I had come to know over the past few days resurfaced.

I remembered that we weren't alone when one of the other couples started telling the story of their engagement. I heard Morel call my name, and I forced myself to tear my eyes away from Zach.

"Mrs. Hunter. I was hoping we could go somewhere private, and talk about business."

"Of course. We can speak in my office." I said, leading him up the stairs. Zach started to follow, but someone called his name.

I gave him a reassuring look. I doubted Morel would do anything while he still believed I was Mrs. Hunter, especially with a room full of witnesses downstairs. He followed me into the empty office, closing the door behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cammie POV

"So," I started, pouring myself a glass of wine, and then offering him one as well. He took it gratefully. "What type of business would you like to discuss today, Monsieur Morel?" I asked, arching one eyebrow.

He took a slow sip of his wine. "Well," He started. "You are aware that I have been looking for a safe location to store some very valuable information of mine- at least until it needs to be handed off, that is." He said, pulling what looked like an ordinary memory card out of his pocket.

I was aware that it was anything but ordinary, and its contents could be a matter of life and death. And yet, here he was, pulling it out of his pocket as though it contained his family photos.

_Idiot._ I thought. Now all I needed to do was either: A. Get him to hand it over or B. Knock him unconscious and take it from him. A would be the most reasonable choice, specifically because there were too many witnesses downstairs and a fight might be loud and draw some unwanted attention.

The Frenchman was not finished talking, much to my dismay. "However, for me to be sure of its safety, I wish to put it in the hands of someone I trust." He set his wine glass down and started to move towards me. On instinct, I took a small step back.

"There are a few ways that a woman such as yourself can earn such trust. Some… easier than others…" He said suggestively. For every step I took backwards, he took another one forwards, until he had me cornered against the wall.

"What are you implying, Monsieur?" I struggled to keep my cover, and not let my obvious disgust show.

"I'm implying that you can get what you want much quicker if you use your…. beauty…. to your advantage."

I involuntarily shivered at the thought. He took it the wrong way and mashed his lips to my face. I pushed him off of me and he stumbled across the room, gasping. His eyes narrowed in some sort of sudden realization.

"You smell like lavender." It took a second for my brain to process this, and I remembered he had said the same thing the night before. He dove at me and I kicked him in between the legs.

He groaned in pain then fell to the ground. I tried to grab the microchip, but he was too quick- he pulled my leg, which sent me crashing to the ground. I pushed my palm to his nose with force, feeling it crack.

He surprised me by pulling out a knife. He made a quick slash and I felt a stabbing pain on my left arm. I cried out in shock and pain. I heard someone banging on the door; apparently he had locked it when we came in.

He threw the knife at me and I dodged it, but it was so close that I could feel a breeze as it whizzed past my face. It was then I remembered my own concealed weapons. He was already charging towards me. I reached up towards my hip and grabbed the first thing I felt.

It was a napo-patch. By then, he was on top of me again, one of his hands grasped around my neck, trying to strangle me. The other hand punched my face a few times and I tasted blood. I started to see spots from lack of air. I reached my own hands up to his neck and slapped the patch on him. In a few seconds his hands slackened, and I gasped for oxygen.

I heard the door crash open and felt someone pull him off of me; he was already unconscious. "Cammie? Cammie!"

I was vaguely away of someone calling my name. But I could hardly focus- the adrenaline was already wearing off, and the stinging pain in my arm was back, this time accompanied by one in my ribs. I was sure that I had fractured at least one.

"Cammie." I opened my eyes. It was Zach, and it looked like he was about to cry. But that was impossible. I must be hallucinating from lack of air.

"Oh god Cammie." He said when I looked at him. I must have been quite a sight- I could feel blood on my face, though I'm not sure how much of it was my own and how much of it was Morel's. "Okay… um…. right. Stop the blood." He was talking more to himself then me now.

I squeaked a bit when he picked me up, but soon relaxed as he carried me to our room. He laid me down gently on the bed and started to wrap something around the gash on my arm. "How bad?" I asked weakly.

"I've seen worse." He smirked at me.

"I can't believe you can smirk at a time like this." I said, which made him smirk even more.

"Where else does it hurt?" He asked.

"My stomach- I think I broke a rib." I managed to choke out.

"Okay…" He bit his lip, like he was trying to decide something. He started to unzip my dress.

"Whoa, what are you doing!" I asked loudly and tried to stop his hands by moving, but then cringed, finding out that movement hurt.

He rolled his eyes at me as if it were the most obvious thing. "I need to look at your stomach to see if your rib really is broken. I can't believe you actually think so much of me that you thought I would take advantage of you in this state."

I flushed crimson. "Fine. Whatever."

I lay back down and he unzipped my dress to my waist and rolled it down, so that I was pretty much exposed down to my stomach. I thanked the lord that Macey made me wear a pretty bra, although I could tell that he was trying his very hardest not to look there.

"Show me where it hurts." I took his hand and put it on my bare stomach; trying to ignore the electric shock I felt when he touched me. He rubbed it for a second, and I flinched. He withdrew his hand quickly.

"Yup, definitely broken. Can you take a deep breath? I need to make sure it didn't puncture a lung." I did as he asked, it hurt a little bit, but I could do it. As my chest rose with the breath, his eyes seemed to flicker there against his will. They lingered for a few seconds before he dragged them up to meet my gaze.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked snidely. He smirked in response.

"Your lungs seem fine…. among… other things…" I glared as he got out gauze and tape, wrapping it around my chest. He got up for a few seconds and went into the bathroom, coming back with a small bottle of pills.

"Pain killers," He said, pouring one or two out into my hand. I nodded and dry-swallowed them uncomfortably. I struggled into a sitting position and he rushed to help me. With my back leaning against the bed frame, I finally got a good look at him.

He had taken off his jacket and his white shirt was untucked and covered in blood. I looked down at my own dress. Even though it was strapless, the blood from my arm had gotten all over the left side of my dress. We both looked like we had walked straight out of a horror movie. "Macey's going to kill me for ruining this dress…" I groaned.

"I want to wash some of this blood off." I stated, then tried to stand on my feet. He took my arm and draped it around his neck so I could use him for balance. I forgot that my dress was still half unzipped and bunched in a ball around my hips, so that when I stood up, it fell to the ground.

I saw Zach bite back a laugh. "Not. A. Word." I growled at him as he assisted me with walking. _Great. _I thought sarcastically in my mind. _I'm now covered in blood, wearing nothing but lingerie, and am about to be helped into the shower by a boy I just met three days ago._

Thankfully, Zach must have known I wasn't kidding around, so he didn't comment. I started to climb into the shower, but he stopped me. "Sorry sweetheart, but you can't get the wrappings wet. You're just going to have to make due with a washcloth right now." He got a towel and wet it, rubbing some soap into it and handing it to me wordlessly.

I started to wipe down my arms and my sides while he stared at me. The white washcloth was now soaked through with red. I handed it back to him when I was finished, and he grabbed another one. "Let me get your face." He said softly.

I realized that it probably would have been a lot easier to just do it myself using the mirror, but I wasn't complaining and neither was he. He brushed the wet washcloth gently over my face- my eyes, my forehead, my nose, my lips. He put the towel back on the counter without breaking eye contact, taking my face in his warm hands and staring into my eyes intensely.

For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, but then the door burst open, revealing two very panicked looking Gallagher Girls. Zach stepped back, taking his hands off my face and shoving them into his pockets.

"Cams!" Bex exclaimed, oblivious. "What happened?"

I smiled at her. "A broken rib, some bruises and a nice looking battle scar. That's all, I promise."

Before I could stop them, both she and Macey went to embrace me. I flinched in pain at the broken rib. They both released quickly, apologizing. "Did you get the microchip?" Macey asked.

I looked at Zach, my eyes wide, hoping it wasn't lost in the fight. "Give me a little more credit than that Gallagher Girl." He said with a grin, pulling the chip out of his back pocket. I sighed in relief then turned back to Macey and Bex in confusion.

"Shouldn't you guys be at the party?" I wondered aloud.

"The party ended- Grant and Nick are getting the last of the people out now."

I was about to ask what time it was when I heard my phone ding from the other room. Or, to clarify- Mrs. Hunter's phone. It was the phone that the real Mrs. Hunter had used when contacting the French terrorists on business. Macey went to get it, looking just as confused as I felt.

"It's a text." She said, handing the phone to me.

I flipped it open and read quickly. _Mrs. Hunter- We trust that Morel got the microchip to you safely. Your loyalty to our company will not go unnoticed. We have another transaction we wish for you and your husband to take part in. We will meet in Paris in four days time, in the lobby of the Westin Hotel at 10:00 am. _

"What does it say?" Bex asked breathlessly as I handed the phone to Zach.

He sighed. "It says that this mission isn't quite over yet."

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading, please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Cammie POV

"Hold on, I'm still not quite sure that I understand." I said for the third time now, feeling stupid. "Morel recognized me from last night- how was our cover not blown?" We were all sitting in a circle on the floor of the empty ballroom now. Thankfully, I had put some clothes on.

"Our cover was blown- to Morel. I guess he wasn't the only terrorist at the party." Macey said.

I nodded. "Speaking of Morel- where is he? What did you do with him?"

"Grant and I tied him up and shoved him in a closet. Someone from Langley is coming to take him tomorrow." Nick said casually, getting up to walk to the kitchen.

"How do we know this Paris thing isn't a trap?" Bex asked.

"We don't." Zach shrugged. "But that's just one of the perks of the job. We'll have to go in there prepared for the worst."

Bex nodded gravely. "How am I going to get back into fighting shape in four days? Walking into a trap is fine, but not when I have a broken rib!" I said.

Macey rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop being such a drama queen Cammie. Do you know how many experimental drugs the CIA has under wraps? We'll just get the Langley guy to bring some quick-healing pills with him or something. You'll be ready to kick ass again by the time we step on the plane."

"Well what are we supposed to do until Paris then? Even Macey doesn't take four days to pack…" I said, ignoring the glare she shot at me.

"Chill, I guess." Nick said, tossing what looked like a can of soda to both Grant and Zach, who caught it with one hand.

"Chill?" Macey asked skeptically.

"Yeah, as in the thing you do when you aren't being a total bi-" Nick started before Bex hurried to cut him off.

"YES! Chill, right. I have an idea- let's not fight. Let's… let's play a game." She said.

"A game? Yeah, hold on, let me just go upstairs and find the board games I'm sure the Hunter's have lying around. Because really- what terrorist doesn't enjoy a rousing game of Monopoly?" Zach said sarcastically.

"Well do you have a better idea, pretty boy?" Bex asked.

I rolled my eyes at their banter, and was suddenly overcome with fatigue. I yawned and stretched my arms, trying to stand up and wincing. Before I could make it halfway off the ground, Zach was already by my side helping me up.

I swatted his hand away, knowing I would get shit from Macey and Bex later if I let him help me. "I'm very capable of going to bed myself, thank you." I walked up the stairs defiantly, falling asleep as my head hit the pillow.

Zach POV

I cannot keep up with this girl. In the bathroom I could have sworn that she wanted me to kiss her. Now it appears that we're back to square one. I watched her leave, then sat back down, rubbing my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"Uh oh. Someone's having trouble with their Cammie." Grants voice mocked. I heard him yelp in pain, probably because Bex hit him.

"She's not _mine _Grant, I don't own her." I felt like I had to explain this to a child.

"But you wish you did." Macey pointed out. I scowled at her and followed Cammie upstairs.

She had fallen asleep fully clothed, lights still on, not even under the blankets. I smiled. I guess that fight really had taken a lot out of her. I picked her up gently, careful not to touch her ribs, and put her under the blankets. I decided to give her a break tonight and sleep on the couch.

I pulled a couple blankets onto the couch and fell asleep within a few minutes.

* * *

><p>I woke up to whimpering noises. I looked at the clock- 3 am. At first I thought it was the dogs, but then I saw Cammie, thrashing in her sheets. I got up and walked over to her warily. "Cammie?" I asked quietly.<p>

"Please, don't hurt him. Just let him go. Take me." She begged. This was definitely a nightmare.

_What should I do? Should I wake her up? Will she be mad, embarrassed? _I wondered stupidly.

My thoughts stopped abruptly when she screamed in pain. I couldn't listen to that. It was the most heartbreaking sound in the world.

I shook her shoulders and she shot straight up, shaking in what I'm assuming was fear. "Cammie. It's okay, it was just a dream." She stared at me wide-eyed for a few seconds before gasping and throwing her arms around my neck tightly. I held her and rubbed her back until she stopped shaking.

I laid down in the bed next to her. "Do you want to talk about it sweetheart?" She just shook her head and wiped her eyes. I got up to go back over to the couch, but she grabbed my hand and pulled me back down.

"Zach. Don't go. Please, don't go." She whispered, her voice a little hoarse. I smiled and pulled her head to my chest, wishing she could stay there forever.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry this is so short, but I just kind of needed a filler chapter until they get to Paris. If anyone has any ideas, please share them with me- I appreciate everything!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Cammie POV

I didn't sleep for the rest of the night. After a while I felt Zach's breathing get heavy and even, but I just laid there for another five hours before I got up to take a shower. I took off my wrappings and savored the feeling of the cold water pounding against my back, my mind unwillingly drifting back to the nightmare.

It had started off like so many nightmares I have had before, with my father shackled to a wall, a faceless man torturing him while I was forced to watch. Then, sometime throughout the dream my dad transformed into Zach, which just made it all the more terrifying. By the time Zach had gotten me awake I was begging the faceless man to stop.

I realized that I had probably looked weak and defenseless at the time, practically pleading with Zach to stay in the bed with me, but I didn't care. One of the terrible things about those dreams was the fact that my father was never there when I woke up- to hold me and tell me it was going to be okay. It was a horrifying reminder that my dream could very well be his reality. Having Zach there after the nightmare helped me to remember that it was just a dream- just my subconscious.

I sighed and finished my shower, inspecting my cuts and bruises from the fight. The gash on my arm from the knife was still pretty deep; it would defiantly scar without the right treatment. I had some bruising around my neck, but that could be easily covered up with makeup. I got out new gauze and rewrapped my ribs and left arm. Zach was still snoring peacefully when I secured a towel around myself and walked out.

I threw on shorts and a t-shirt, but I didn't wake Zach up just yet. I still felt bad for waking him up in the middle of the night. I could tell neither Macey nor Nick was up yet, due to the lack of screaming and arguments. When I walked downstairs I couldn't smell bacon in the kitchen, which meant Grant wasn't up. The only thing that boy thinks about is his stomach.

I heard the doorbell ring and I rushed to get it, assuming it was the person from Langley that was supposed to be here today to get Morel. When I opened the door, it was the last person that I expected.

"Aunt Abby!" I yelled, throwing my arms around her neck.

She laughed. "Hey squirt, long time no see."

I detached myself from her and she looked me up and down. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I came to see my niece, of course. I heard you needed this." She said, handing me a jar of quick healing cream.

"Oh, thanks." I took the cream and rubbed it into the knife wound on my left arm.

"So how's the mission going?" I sighed, thinking of Zach.

"The mission is going _fine_." I said.

"Uh oh. I know that look. It's the same look your mother used to get. This wouldn't have anything to do with a boy, now would it?" I smiled, loving the fact that I could never hide anything from her.

"It _might_."

"Well whatever it is, you should go for it squirt."

"Thanks Abby." My smile slowly faded. "Did you know that Morel had mom's file?"

Abby seemed unfazed. "No, but it doesn't surprise me. Your mom has been in this business a long time. A lot of people have her file." I nodded, still not completely content with the explanation.

Abby couldn't stay long, much to my disappointment. We talked for another hour before she went up to get a still-unconscious Morel. She told me to stay safe and to have fun in Paris. She had barely reached her car before I started missing her.

I went back upstairs- it was nine o'clock and still no one was up. I rolled my eyes when I got into the room and saw Zach laying face down on the bed with the comforter thrown on the floor. "Zach. It's past nine. Get up." I shook his shoulder.

He rolled over to his side, his eyes still closed tightly. "Cammie…" He groaned. My eyes widened in surprise. At first, I thought he was awake, but his heavy breathing continued and his eyes stayed shut. "Mhm, Cammie…" He said again.

_Oh my god. _I thought. Was Zach… _dreaming _about me? My face felt really hot. Come to think of it, the entire room felt really hot all of the sudden. "Zach. Wake. Up. Now." I said, shaking his shoulders with each syllable.

His eyes opened and rolled over to face me. "Oh… Hey Gallagher Girl, how long have you been up?" He asked groggily.

I got up quickly and crossed my arms over my chest, trying very hard not to laugh. "Oh you know… a while. What were you dreaming about Zach?" I asked all too innocently.

"Um… don't really remember. Stuff." He said, getting up and stretching his arms over his head. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. "When is the dude coming over to pick up Morel?"

"You just missed her. We should wake up the others and get on the road soon. I want to be in Paris by tonight." I watched him get a t-shirt and cargo shorts out of his suitcase. I have to admit that I preferred him without a shirt on.

"By tonight? Well unless you have enough jetpacks for all of us-" He said from within the bathroom.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a private jet. CIA ordered us one because all the flights headed straight to Paris with no stops are booked for the next two days."

"Sweet. But I'm not waking up McHenry or Baxter. I prefer to keep my face looking the way it does now."

Once everyone was up and downstairs, I start going over what little information Abby gave me about the jet. "So basically," I said between bites of Grant's amazing omelet. "The plane can leave the tarmac anytime we want today. The flight will be about ten and a half hours. How soon can we leave?"

Everyone looked at Macey. "What?" She asked when she realized that we were all staring at her. "I packed last night, thank you. All pack-mule here needs to do is carry the bags down." She said, motioning to Nick with her thumb.

The drive to the airport was about an hour long, but we all made it on the plane before noon. We would have been there earlier if Nick hadn't pulled the car over on the middle of the highway and threatened to throw Macey out.

The jet was tricked out- inside it looked less like a jet and more like a game room. "This is bloody awesome." I heard Bex say.

Grant walked straight over to the flat screen television, picking up the remote and flipping through the channels; announcing "We have cable!"

Macey looked around bored. "I've seen better." She sighed, flopping down onto one of the seats.

"Of course you have princess." Nick said sarcastically, coming in after her.

"Well, we have another ten hours. What do you want to do?" I asked to no one in particular, sitting down next to Macey.

She grinned devilishly. "We could play truth or dare…" She suggested. At the mention of this, all the boy's eyes lit up and they came to sit closer to us.

I groaned. "Mace, what are we- twelve? Besides, I'm exempt from your game- I'm injured."

"That's bullshit. I volunteer Cam to go first." She said. "Truth or dare Cams?"

I sighed. Unfortunately, there was no arguing with Macey when she got like this. "Truth, I guess." She and Bex put their heads together to whisper to one another. I leaned back and slowly awaited my punishment.

"Okay Cammie," Bex said. "Tell us what you like the most about Zach physically." In my peripheral vision, I saw Zach straighten up.

_Evil. They are evil. I will get them back for this, somehow. _"Well Gallagher Girl? Too hard to pick just one thing, huh?" He mocked.

I was blushing. I could feel it. _Damn it! _ "Uhh… I..." I stammered for a few seconds and he smirked at me. "His eyes. I like his eyes."

Zach leaned back a little bit. I could tell that was not the answer he was expecting. "Good Cammie." Bex said like a kindergarten teacher. "Your turn."

"Zachary," I said his full name and his head snapped up- he had been concentrating very hard on his hands. "Truth or dare?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for all the suggestions! It seems quite a few people wanted truth or dare/more Zammie moments, so that's what you have to look forward to for the next couple of chapters. Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Cammie POV

"You don't scare me Gallagher Girl. Dare." He said grinning wickedly.

Darn. I was hoping he would pick truth. I turned to Macey and Bex for help. "Ugh, you have no creativity." Macey complained. They once again whispered and I grinned at Zach, knowing that he was about to get it.

"Zach. Your dare is to handcuff yourself to Cammie for a full 24 hours."

"WHAT!" I shrieked.

Zach laughed. "Deal!" He said, holding his wrists out.

"Macey! Choose something else- that's more of a punishment to me then it is to him!" I said frantically, holding my wrists behind my back.

"Nope," She said. "It's too late now Cam." She dragged my wrist out next to Zach and the cold metal pressed slightly into my skin.

"Macey." I growled. "I know this was your idea. I will not spend a day handcuffed to this moron."

"Hey, just think about it. You get to spend _all day _staring into my eyes…" I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked.

"Okay!" Macey said. "You two have plenty of time to bicker later. It's your turn Zach."

"McHenry- truth or dare?"

She grinned at the challenge. "Dare."

"I dare you to only wear clothes from Wal-Mart for the rest of the mission." Macey's mouth dropped open and she looked furious.

"And if I refuse?" She spat out.

"Hey! I didn't get a second option!" I protested.

"That's because it wasn't your dare, sweetheart. And besides, I'm perfectly content with our current situation." Zach explained.

"What's the other option!" Macey asked, her voice rising.

"Oh right. You can give Nick a lap dance."

"YES!" Nick yelled, high-fiving Zach with the hand that wasn't handcuffed to me. "Thank you!"

"Come on, Nick." Macey said, grabbing Nick by the ear and dragging him into one of the small bathrooms.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed, and then Zach stood up, the metal cuffs tugging on my hand. "Where are you going?" I asked accusingly.

"I have to pee." He said innocently. I glared at him and yanked my arm back down, causing him to fall back. "Fine." He grumbled. "But just remember," He said, his breath tickling my ear. "In 24 hours, you're going to have to take a shower, change your clothes, go-"

I'm sure he would have continued, but at that moment, Macey walked out of the bathroom, Nick trailing close behind, looking as if he just won the lottery. Macey was trying to look pissed, I could tell, but I don't think she could help the smug little smile that played on her lips.

"Grant." She said, sitting back down. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." He answered.

"How do you feel about Bex?" Macey asked, hoping to embarrass him.

He wasn't fazed at all. "Bex? As in my British Bombshell? Well, I feel like she is the most badass girl I've ever met, she could kill anyone with her eyes closed- myself included- and she's beautiful and bloody awesome." He said simply.

Bex's smile grew with every word. "Mace? Do you think we could borrow that bathroom you just came out of for a few minutes?" She asked.

"Ew," I did not need that mental image. "Save it for Paris."

The rest of the ride was spent lounging around, watching the flatscreen. I fell asleep the last few hours of the ride, and Zach nudged me awake, telling me we were here. We all took separate taxis because all of our luggage wouldn't fit into one. We were staying in a five-star hotel near the Westin.

As we walked around the hotel carrying our bags up to the elevator, I noticed that we kept getting strange looks. "Why are people staring at us?" I whispered to him once we got on the elevator.

He shook his wrist and the metal on the handcuffs jingled. "Forget already Gallagher Girl? You know, it would be less noticeable if you hold my hand." I rolled my eyes, but obliged, entwining my warm fingers with his.

I held it until we got to our room, where he regrettably dropped my hand so he could get our room key out of his back pocket. Even though I had slept a on the plane, I was still very tired from my lack of sleep last night. "Do you think we could nap a few more hours until we have to get up?" I asked Zach.

I still had jean shorts on, and as tired as I was, they were much too uncomfortable to fall asleep in. "Alright, um… close your eyes or something. Please."

"Nah. I don't think I will." I should have been expecting that.

"Zach, come on." He smirked, but obliged, covering his eyes with his hand that wasn't shackled to me. I leaned over to get sweatpants and one-handedly quick changed.

"Decent?" Zach asked.

"Yes."

"Good." He said, dragging my arm down so that I fell on the bed on top of him.

"Zach!" I giggled, trying to wiggle my way off of him, but he just gripped me tighter.

"Go to sleep Cammie." He said seriously, pulling my head to rest under his neck and pulling the covers up over us.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, another filler chapter- sorry about that. Next one will have more stuff, I promise. And to answer maximumpotter101, yes this story will have Liz and Jonas; they're coming up soon- promise!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Zach POV

I woke up to the sound of giggling. I opened my eyes slightly, only to have to shut them again when I was blinded by a flash. I groaned and the giggles got louder.

"Get up, lovebirds. We have work to do." I heard a British voice say, I'm assuming it belonged to Bex. Someone threw the curtains opened, and I put my hand up to block the light. My hand dragged something with it, and cold metal brushed my nose. That's when I finally remembered the handcuffs.

Cammie's hand fell on my face and she mumbled something intelligible in her sleep. "Bonjour, Gallagher Girl…" I whispered into her ear. I swear she must have jumped a foot. Her face was priceless.

"Zach! What are you…?" She tried to rub her eyes but the handcuffs pulled. She looked so cute when she was confused. She groaned as remembrance seemed to dawn on her.

"Come on Cam! Get up, get dressed, we have to plan!" McHenry sang, apparently in a good mood this morning.

They left and I started to tug my shirt off, using both hands just to annoy her. Her limp hand brushed across my chest and I suppressed a shiver. "So, how was your nap?" I said, trying to appear nonchalant, but in reality I was trying to change the subject.

"Fine." She looked like she was concentrating on something else. "Uh oh."

'_Uh oh'? Why 'uh oh'? What's the problem? _I wondered. I followed her gaze to my shirt dangling uselessly to our shackles.

"I am not wearing the same crappy shirt for another nine hours." She said.

"You could go naked." She ignored me and instead dragged me to one of the suitcases and digging through it. "Damn!" She exclaimed. "Macey took my lock picks- damn her!"

We swept the room for a minute, looking for something to pick the lock on the cuffs with, but it seemed that Macey had taken away all possibilities, already anticipating Cammie's next move. Her eyes scanned the room one last time before she sighed and looked me up and down. "Well, I guess-" Her face lit up.

"Zach, give me your belt." She said excitedly.

_My belt? What the… what? What were we talking about again?_

She must have noticed my confusion. "I need your belt so I can pick the lock." She said, her face flushing- though whether in anger or embarrassment I couldn't tell.

_Right… _ I snapped out of it, my cocky demeanor returning. No way in hell was she getting off that easy. "If you want it Gallagher Girl, come and get it." I said, smirking.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but reached down and quickly unhooked my belt, grumbling something about me being a jerk. She had the lock on the handcuffs open in less than a minute. Not bad with a makeshift lock pick.

"Got it!" She said triumphantly as both the restraints and my shirt fell to the ground.

I laughed at her enthusiasm and rubbed my wrist, picking out a new pair of clothes for the day and going into the bathroom to change. When she got out of the bathroom, she pulled me by the arm to the room across the hall where everyone else was. "I can't wait to see the look on Macey's face…" She grinned evilly.

When we got into the room and Macey saw our lack of metal restraints, she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at us, returning to the computer screen she was looking at before. I smirked and ran my newly freed hand through my hair.

"There's no way we're going to be able to break through this…" Nick said dejectedly.

"Break through what? What are you doing?" Cammie asked.

"Well, if _someone_ hadn't decided to catch up on their beauty sleep, you would have known that we got a call from the director, specifically warning us not to go into this meeting without doing a full background check on this guy." Bex explained, sounding exasperated. She showed me a picture of a fairly young man, early thirties maybe. There was nothing overtly sinister about his picture.

"Now this background check," Bex continued. "Includes breaking into his house. Which means we need to disable security. And this guy has a security system equivalent to that of the Louvre." She sighed. "There's no way that any of us are breaking into it."

"Makes you wonder what he's hiding in there." Grant stated.

"Well, if we can't break into it, we need to find someone who can." I said. Grant, Nick and I all looked at each other with what I'm sure was the same name on our mind. _Jonas._ Macey, Bex and Cammie were all giving each other the same look. "I think we have just the guy for the job."

"Your guy? Please Goode; our guy could beat your guy with her eyes closed." Macey said, looking offended.

"Doubtful." Nick replied. Its true- Jonas was one of the best hackers in the world. Macey looked about ready to pounce on Nick.

"Okay, how about this," Cammie said, sensing the tension and trying to compromise. "We send both of them, and they can work on it together."

"Oh hell no!" Nick almost yelled. "The last thing I need is another bitchy Gallagher Girl around here." He snapped, staring at Macey. Bad move Nick, very bad move. Cammie stared at him, her mouth hanging open slightly with a look of disgust on her face.

"And the last thing we need is another cocky, PMSing Blackthorne Boy who thinks he's the second coming of Jesus, but we all have to make sacrifices now and then, don't we?" Cammie said back at him. Macey flipped out her phone, still very clearly pissed.

"Lizzy? It's Mace. Pack your bags, you're coming to Paris."

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I've been super busy. Enjoy the chapter, and please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Cammie POV

Liz was the first to arrive. Zach had insisted that she be booked on the first flight to Paris, because he wanted to break into this guy's house before the sun came up. I secretly thought it was because he was a control freak. It was nine-thirty by the time Lizzy got off the plane and we got back to the apartment. The boys had stayed behind to wait for their hacker, whose plane was coming in a few minutes later.

"I have so much to tell you guys!" Liz drawled in her endearing southern accent. I smiled and took a sip from my third coffee that night.

"Really? Like what?" I asked, intrigued.

"Well whatever it is- it can wait. You need to get a head start on this project so you can whoop the other nerd's ass." Macey said, unlocking the door to their apartment.

"Please. It's not like she'll need it." Bex said with confidence. Ignoring Bex, Liz went to sit down at the table and scrutinize the blueprints.

"Wow." That was all she had to say for a few seconds while she scrolled through the security measures of the house. "Where exactly is this? Are you breaking into the White House?"

"Yes, clearly. That's why we're in Paris." Macey said, unable to keep the sarcastic comment to herself.

"Can you do it?" I asked anxiously.

"Of course I can do it." Liz said, looking appalled. "It just might take a little time." She started tapping on the keys of the keyboard at about a hundred miles an hour. I stared at her hands, mesmerized at their speed. That's when I noticed the diamond ring on her left ring finger.

I gasped. "Liz, is that… a wedding ring?" I asked, stunned. Bex and Macey both looked shocked also.

She turned bright red and started stuttering. "Yes… well, you s-see, that's… funny story…" I didn't even know she had a boyfriend, much less a fiancée.

"Ohmigod, who is he!" Bex yelled, bouncing out of excitement. "When is the wedding?"

She didn't get a chance to answer because it was at that moment that the boys burst into the room. "Trying to cheat, I see?" Grant said, inching closer to Bex.

"It's not that big of a deal guys, it will get done either way." A voice I have yet to recognize said. It belonged to a cute, nerdy-looking boy with glasses.

"Hey, don't defend them- they're your competition!" Grant said.

The boy was no longer interested, however. He had caught sight of Liz and they were now staring at each other looking shocked. "Jonas?" Liz questioned.

"Liz!" The boy answered.

"Um… do you two… know each other?" Macey asked. They ignored her.

"I thought you were on a mission."

"I thought _you _were on a mission!"

"This is my mission!" They both said at the same time.

It was silent for a few seconds. Liz smiled weakly. "Oopsie daisy…" She said. Jonas smiled back and went to put his arm around her shoulder.

"Can someone _please _explain what's going on…?" Grant voiced the question everyone was currently asking in their heads.

"Do you two… know each other or something?" I questioned carefully.

"Um…" Liz twirled her engagement ring nervously. "He's my fiancé."

Cue awkward silence of about thirty seconds.

"Well…" Nick said, breaking the pause. "As heartwarming as this reunion is, I believe you both have work to do."

"So… the competition is still on, right?" Grant asked. Bex hit him upside the head.

"Of course it isn't you idiot! We can't ask them to compete, they're getting _married_. Besides, we all know Lizzy would have won anyway…"

Liz and Jonas weren't paying attention; they had already gotten out their laptops and were gibbering away in nerd-code. "If we bounce the connection around to several foreign servers, then the security could be broken for a few minutes, or at least long enough time to give us access to the mainframe where we can scramble the HTML code source-" Liz would have blabbered on forever if Zach hadn't interrupted.

"How long?" He questioned.

Liz and Jonas stopped typing to look at one another. "Three hours?" He said, looking at Liz.

She shrugged. "Two and a half."

Zach turned back to us and shrugged off his leather jacket. "Get ready- we're doing this tonight."

I followed him into the fancy hotel room. I started to grab black clothes to change into, but he stopped me. "No, no. You're staying here. With Liz and Jonas." I stared at him like he had grown an extra head as the words sunk in.

"And _why _am I doing that?" He looked to me as if the answer were obvious.

"You just broke a rib a little over a day ago, Gallagher Girl."

"It's completely fine! It's totally healed!" I exclaimed, proving it by pulling my shirt off so that he could see that it was now nothing but a ugly looking bruise. "Here! Punch me!" I was _not _going to sit this out.

"I'm not going to punch you. And what about the knife wound?"

"What about it? It's gone- nothing but a scar now. I'm telling you- that stuff Abby gave me was great." He couldn't tell me I had to stay here. He isn't my father.

He ran his finger down the scar and I suppressed shivers that had nothing to do with pain. He looked me in the eyes for a few seconds, probably trying to detect a lie. "Fine." He didn't sound very happy about it. "Get dressed." He threw one of my black t-shirts at me.

I grinned in triumph and started to go to the bathroom. "Hey." He grabbed my elbow and I found him staring directly into my eyes. "Stay with me the whole time, okay? No wandering off on your own or going into locked rooms with known terrorists who carry knives around… please." He added the please as if it occurred to him at the last second. Like I was doing _him _a favor by not getting myself killed.

_Well, technically, you are. Since he was the one who had to save you last time…_ I thought to myself. I nodded and he looked exceptionally relieved.

He released a breath that he must have been holding. "Thank you. Now go put a freakin' shirt on, it's cold out there." He grinned, pushed me into the bathroom, and closed the door, leaving me to wonder what that was all about.

**A/N: Action coming up soon! Yay! I would really, very much like to reach 100 reviews before the next chapter gets posted… so please review because I love every suggestion and every feedback. Thank you for all the support :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Cammie POV

"Are you sure you're okay to go Gallagher Girl?" Zach asked for the fifth time during the car ride.

"Yes, Zach. I'm fine. I can take care of myself." His concern was starting to become slightly condescending.

"Just stay by me the whole time. Or else I'll tell Macey to get the handcuffs back out." He joked. At least, I hope he joked. "Jonas, Liz- where are we going?" He asked into the comms unit.

"Okay, well…" Liz started. "There are a few blind spots on the cameras… once you get inside the house, you're good. The security inside was significantly easier to corrupt."

"You all are going to have to split up into small groups," As Jonas said this, Zach grabbed my hand. "We can send the cameras outside on a loop for about ten minutes, so you have exactly that long to get inside the house. We're going to break into each of the cameras and security systems as you pass them, that way it will give you a longer amount of time." There was a frantic sound of typing keys in the background.

"Alright. We'll do it like we did the last one- each group takes a floor to search." Zach said.

"Actually, that won't be necessary. Dragnov is currently occupying the main floor. He has a party full of civilians there now. He won't have anything of interest on that floor. Even terrorist's aren't that reckless." Liz said through the comms. "So that means one group on the top floor, one on the basement, and one covering the courtyard and surrounding areas."

Grant raised his hand. Zach sighed. "Grant, this isn't a classroom, just ask your damn question."

"What are we looking for, exactly?"

"Anything having to do with the Hunter's, the Morel, or the meeting at the Westin in two days."

"Just to make this clear," Macey said. "I am not walking through the sewers again. So Nick and I get roof. You two can fight over who gets courtyard."

I turned to Bex. "Rock, paper, scissors?" I asked. She nodded and accepted the challenge. I won and Zach smirked at Grant.

"Courtyard it is, Gallagher Girl…" Zach said, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

It took us twenty minutes to run from the van to the courtyard, dodging cameras and taking short cuts on both Liz and Jonas' demand. "I don't understand why we are here." I said, picking at the flowers next to the cobblestone walkway. "Why in the world would he have any information out here?"

"I dunno. Our nerds seem to think there's something out here though, so who are we to argue?" He said, picking the flower out of my hand and pulling the petals out one by one. "Got to admit though, it is pretty romantic, don't you think?" He said suggestively, handing me the stem of the flower he had just dismembered.

"It was," I said, throwing the useless stem over my shoulder. "until you said that." I started to turn around.

"Hold on," He caught my shoulder and stared very hard into me, squinting as if he were putting in an excessive amount of effort.

"What are you doing?" I laughed and he smiled at the sound.

"I was gazing into your eyes. I thought you might swoon or something, you know, considering how much you _love _my eyes…"

I laughed again and hit him on the arm. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" I said, referring back to Macey's game of truth or dare. He shook his head. "Alright, Mr. Confident. What's your favorite part about me then?" I said, smirking his smirk at him.

He scoffed at me and I realized he was going to give me a smart-ass answer. "Well," He bit his lip and scanned me up and down. "Your ass is pretty great…" He said. I was unsure if I should laugh or be annoyed by his immature behavior.

I decided on the latter and walked deeper into the courtyard. I stopped to stare at a big oak tree next to a large lake. I could feel Zach's presence behind me, but he was quiet. I concentrated on the tree like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Zach inched closer to me and I felt his breath on my neck. I reached a hand out to feel an engraving on the bark. It was of a flower. Zach gently moved my hair to the side. I pressed my thumb into the engraving. The ground gave out from under me and a scream caught in my throat.

It was pitch black- the tree was gone, the lake was gone, Zach was gone, even the sky was gone. "Cammie! Where did you go? Cammie! Are you okay?" Zach's frantic voice crackles in from over the comms unit.

"Zach, I'm fine- what happened?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice calm.

He huffed in anger. "I could ask you the same thing. Jonas, where is she?" He said accusingly.

There was a shuffling of papers on the other side. "I… I don't know." Jonas said nervously. "There's nothing on the blueprints…"

I groped around in the dark to feel for my flashlight. I flipped it on and shined it around some. "I'm in a hallway." I felt a buzzing on my wrist and looked down to see my radiation detector vibrating. "And my radiation bracelet is going off the charts." There was a pause on the other line.

"That would explain the ridiculously high levels of radiation bouncing off the lake…" Liz said softly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Zach demanded.

"I didn't think to check until now." She said, sounding on the verge of tears.

"Zach- she didn't know. Lizzy, it's okay." I said, taking a deep breath and moving forward through the doors. They opened to reveal a gigantic room with a frosted dome. I could tell from the murky black outside that I was underneath the lake.

There were large missiles and mass-killing weapons covering the entirety of the room. To most people, the biggest one is the most intimidating. But I'm a trained spy- I know better than that. The most dangerous thing in the room is the flash drive wired down to a little pedestal in the middle. The flash drive containing the codes that could set off one of these very large missiles at any given moment.

I walked over to it cautiously, light on my feet. I saw a tag hanging off of it, almost as if it were for sale. On the tag was written _Monday, 10:00. Westin Hotel, Paris._ I held back a gasp. "I think I know what they're planning to give us on Monday." I said, my voice even.

"What?" Liz asked breathlessly.

"A very dangerous combination of codes." I couldn't take it now, it would set off alarms. We would have to wait until the meeting.

A thought occurred to me. "How do I get out of here Liz?"

"Give me a second, I'm working on it." She answered and there was the rapid sound of typing echoing in the background. Her heavy breathing through the comms suddenly stopped. "The lake…" She murmured.

"The what?" Zach asked.

"The lake!" She said louder. "The only way out is through the lake. Cammie, there should be a ladder leading to a door of some sort- a porthole, maybe?"

"I see it." It was true, there was a ladder leading to a high point in the dome. If I opened it up there would be nothing but blackness.

"But… but that's impossible!" Zach sputtered. "The water is freezing. You would be dead of hypothermia in a minute."

"Actually, with my calculations, she would have about thirty seconds until she loses consciousness, then she would drown." Liz added in.

Zach made a strangled-sounding noise through the comms. "She can't do this."

"It's the only way. Unless you want me to starve to death down here." I said, climbing the ladder. I reached the top. I took a deep breath and put my hand on the door to the portal. "Thirty seconds?" I asked Liz softly.

"Thirty seconds." She confirmed.

I opened the door and was submerged into the freezing black water.

_1... 2…3… _This water is not water- its ice.

_5…6…7…_ It's so dark. Which way is up?

_10… 11... 12… _My lungs started to burn and there was a black tinge to my vision.

_13… 14… 15… _I felt myself lose consciousness and the last thought on my brain was- _Liz was wrong_.

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><p><strong>AN: Next chapter is a fluff chapter! Please review- and thanks for everyone who helped me reach 100! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Zach POV

I tugged my shirt off and pulled the comms unit out of my ear. I made a mental decision to jump into the water and get Cammie as soon as I counted to thirty. She was not going to die on my watch. Those were the most nerve wracking thirty seconds of my life.

_27… 28…29… 30. _ No Cammie. I dove headfirst into the lake. I couldn't see anything, so I just moved my hands around in the cold water. My foot brushed up against something hard. It was her. She had stopped moving, stopped swimming. I could feel the cold start to take me over. Not wasting any time, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled us to the surface.

When we got to the shore she was shivering uncontrollably- so much that it could be mistaken for convulsing. I grabbed my comms unit from the ground where I threw it and put it back into my ear with difficulty- my hand was also shaking dangerously. I checked for a pulse. She had one, but it was very slow. "Liz, Jonas- I got her, she's alive!" I choked out into the comms unit.

I couldn't tell if it was the moonlight or the cold, but she looked like she was turning blue. "Cammie!" I yelled at her and moved her wet hair from her face. Other than the shaking, her body was limp and unresponsive. "Cammie, please don't die. Please be okay Cammie. You have to, I love you." I said into her hair as I held her close to me. I don't care if she didn't hear me. She had to know how I felt about her.

"Zach! Get her in some dry clothes and then get her to the van. We have it fired up and ready to go to a safe house for tonight." Macey's voice yelled from over the comms unit. Liz and Jonas must have tuned them in. I ripped her wet shirt off and threw my dry one over her, too worried to stop and admire how beautiful she was, even wet and shaking like this.

I picked her up bridal style and ran back to the van, barely paying attention to dodging the cameras. I could only hope Liz and Jonas had me covered. When I got there, they threw the door open and started speeding away. "What happened?" Bex asked when she took in the sight of me and the unconscious Cammie that I refused to let go of.

"C-Cammie… nukes… lake…" I managed to get out through my teeth chattering. I was still shirtless and dripping wet.

"Here, man." Grant said, offering me his dry shirt. I nodded to him in thanks before wiping my face dry then Cammie's, then throwing it on.

"What do we do?" Macey asked in reference to Cammie, who was still unconscious.

"Liz and Jonas are already at the safe house, they have some sort of drug to give both you guys that will warm both of you up. Until then, we just have to do our best now." Nick piped in from the driver's seat.

Everyone nodded gravely and I just clutched Cammie closer to my chest and ran a hand through my wet hair. "When will she wake up?" I asked, now that my teeth chattering had lessened considerably from the warm temperature inside the van.

"Hopefully an hour or so…" Bex said, trailing off and looking at her unconscious best friend. The rest of the ride passed in a tense silence. We reached a small-looking cottage just outside of Paris. I picked Cammie up and brought her inside the house. Her shivering had stopped and her breathing had become even, her pulse was still slow but had picked up a bit.

When we got inside, Liz was waiting with two syringes in hand. She pointed to the couch where there were a bunch of blankets and I laid Cammie down carefully. I pulled my shirt sleeve up wordlessly and she injected the clear liquid into my muscle, Jonas doing the same to Cammie. Jonas left the room but Liz stayed behind. I then noticed her tear-streaked face and was conscious of the fact that she had been crying.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice broke. "I should have- I could have checked, but I didn't think… It's all my faul-"

"Liz." I stopped her. "It's not your fault. There's no way you could have known." She nodded and looked at Cammie then back to me, smiling slightly and backing out of the room. I laid down next to Cammie and stroked her cheek with my finger, marveling at how soft her skin was. I wish she would just wake up already.

I heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. I sighed. _Why won't they just leave us alone? _ I thought, turning around to see Macey leaning up against the doorframe, observing Cammie and I with a neutral expression on her face and taking a swig from the beer in her hand.

_Maybe if I ignore her she'll go away. _I turned back to Cammie. After a few seconds, she finally spoke. "Are you going to listen to what I have to say to you, or just lay there petting my best friend's face?" She asked, pushing herself up off the door.

I sighed and sat up. "What do you want?" I wasn't trying to be rude; I just kind of wanted to stare at Cammie for a while before she woke up. I could do this a lot better if I wasn't constantly being interrupted.

Macey put her beer down on the desk. "So… you love her?" She said innocently, rubbing her finger over the top of her bottle.

_Oh shit… everyone heard that… _It hadn't occurred to me that everyone was listening over the comms. I could feel my face get red as I replayed the scene over in my head, assessing the damage I had done to my pride. "I… I don't know what you're talking about." That would have sounded a lot more convincing if I hadn't just stumbled over my words.

Macey rolled her eyes. "Right…" She said, drawling out the vowels. "Look," She finally shifted to look me in the eye. "You're a good guy Zach."

I smirked at her. "Thanks."

She rolled her eyes again. "Maybe a bit of an idiot, but you can't help that. What I'm saying is- Cammie deserves someone who loves her. And, I think you can give her that. You have my blessing." I smiled and looked down at Cammie. "Just so you know… if you hurt her, in any way, I'll send Bex on you." She started to leave.

"Wait!" I said before she could make her exit. "That's it? That's all I get? You aren't going to give me any tips or tell me if she feels the same way? You're girls; you tell each other that kind of stuff, right?" I felt very disappointed with the lack of information.

It was Macey's turn to smirk. "That would be way too easy." She said, her hips swaying as she took her beer and left the room.

I turned back to my Gallagher Girl. After about another twenty minutes, Cammie's eyelids started to flutter. I stared at her silently as she took in her surroundings. She tried to sit up but I pushed her back down gently.

"Am I dead?" She asked softly.

I smirked at her confusion. "Yes, you're in heaven- that's why I'm here."

She pursed her lips at me in an annoyed way. "But you're smirking; so it _must _be hell." Clearly she feels good enough to start insulting me. I muffled my laugh into her shoulder, then kept my head there. She started to hesitantly run her fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes.

"Zach?" She asked.

"Hm?" I was more concentrating on the feeling of her hands in my hair then what she was saying.

"Thank you for saving me."

I lifted my head to look into her eyes. "Any time, Gallagher Girl."

"Cammie! You're awake!" Bex yelled, ruining the moment yet again. "When were you planning on telling us she woke up?" She whirled around to me.

Cammie rolled her eyes and sat up. "Relax Bex, I'm fine. Where is everyone?" She asked.

"In the dining room, talking about the mission. And next time you want to go on a midnight swim, warn us first so we can have the paramedics ready, okay?" Bex replied.

Cammie laughed and I gave her a hand to help her out of the blankets. I held her hand as we walked downstairs to sit at the large dining room table. Everyone smiled at her when we came in. Nick put a glass with ice down on the table and picked through the bar on the other side of the room.

"So do you think we can count this mini-mission a success?" Liz asked hopefully from her position on Jonas' lap.

"Well, no one died, and we figured out what they're planning on giving us on Monday… so yeah, I guess." Macey said, crossing her legs.

"I vote we celebrate." Nick said, taking the top off a very expensive looking bottle of brown liquid.

"Ew." Macey said, disgust written all over her face. "You drink scotch? The only person I know who drinks scotch is my _father_."

Nick turned his palms up innocently. "Well it's not my fault that you drank the last beer, princess." He poured a tiny bit into the glass.

"Dude, seriously." Grant said, his eyebrows raised. "Even I can't drink scotch. That stuff is like fire."

Bex rolled her eyes at them. "That's just because you're all babies…" And before Nick, Grant, or anyone else could stop her, she took his glass and took a big sip out of it, throwing it back and grinning wildly at Grant.

"Wow." Grant said breathlessly after a few seconds of silence. "You really are a British Bombshell…"

This made Bex grin wider. "Well, you know us Brits are known for our alcohol tolerance. Much more than you Americans…"

"Oh please…" Cammie scoffed. "That has nothing to do with you being British. Give me the bottle." She said, making a grab at the alcohol, but I took it before she could get it and held it over my head out of her reach.

"I don't really think that's a great idea." I said as she tried to jump for the bottle.

"And please Cammie. You are such a lightweight; you were drunk after that first beer in Berlin." Macey put in from her position at the other side of the table.

"I was not!" Cammie said, offended.

"Yeah, definitely- you just _pretended_ to pass out." Macey said sarcastically.

Cammie stopped trying to get the scotch out of my hand so that she could glare at Macey. "No, I was not drunk after the first beer- I _pretended _to be drunk. Then I _actually _got drunk when that idiot we were supposed to be honey potting made us do body shots." She specified.

"Whoa, whoa!" Grant said, holding his hands up.

"I think we need to hear this story in more detail." I said, no longer interested in the scotch.

"And possibly a reenactment…?" Nick suggested his eyes almost bugging out of his head. I'm sure mine looked similar. Cammie took advantage of my distraction to take the bottle of scotch and pour a little bit out into the glass, tilting her head back. She wiped her mouth.

"Ha! See, not just you." She said, pointing at Bex. She turned back to me. "And _that,_" She said, patting my head. "Is a story for another night, Blackthorne Boy."

All the girls got up, including Liz, to walk upstairs. Grant, Nick, Jonas and I just stared at them in awe as they walked away. I slumped down into one of the chairs. "Those girls are going to kill us one day, I'm sure of it." Nick said. I nodded in agreement.

"No they won't." Jonas said, still watching the spot where Liz had just departed. "They'll just steal your heart."

Normally we all would have laughed at his cheesy line, but instead we just leaned back and let out a collective sigh, agreeing with the truth behind his words.

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><p><strong>AN: I decided to be nice and give you a longer chapter ;). These past two chapters have been the most fun to write, I only hope that they're equally fun to read. Please review! They have one more day in Paris before the meeting- any suggestions?**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Grant POV

We had one more day in Paris before the meeting and absolutely nothing to do. Nothing to plan, nothing to prepare for, not even anything to report- a free day. Normally, this was a great thing on missions. Now though- we were freaking out.

We knew that the girls would be expecting something of us- a real date, seeing as we were practically dating all of them. Well, except for Zach, who can't seem to get his crap in order and actually tell Cammie how he feels while she's conscious. But other than that, Jonas and Liz are getting married, Nick and Macey have some sort of weird dominatrix love-to-hate-you type thing, and Bex and I are awesome. Bex is awesome. Bex is amazing.

_Sigh… Bex._

"Dude. Seriously, stop daydreaming about Baxter and help us out here." Nick said, sounding annoyed.

"We could… take them out to dinner?" Jonas proposed, making it sound like a question.

"How original…" Zach grumbled unhappily.

"All I know is if we don't come up with something soon, they're all going to kick our asses. Except for maybe Liz… she's too nice for that." I said thoughtfully, sipping at the coffee in my hand and wishing that there was still left over bacon from this morning. Jonas beamed at my comment, happy to have found the only sweet girl out of the bunch. Not that I would give up my British Bombshell for all the sweet girls in the world- because I wouldn't.

We had let the girls sleep in so that we could all try to come up with something together. So far we had come up with nothing. And we were all totally screwed.

"Ugh!" Nick said, dropping his head into his hands as if thinking the same exact thing. "If only I could just read Macey's mind for like, three minutes, just to see what she was thinking. Then I would know."

I snorted, trying to imagine the pure torture of three minutes inside McHenry's brain. "It would probably just be like 'Eh ma gawd, shoes, eh ma gawd, kill Nick, eh ma gawd, perfume.'" I made my voice go up higher when I said the last part, causing it to crack.

Zach sat up straighter with a distant look on his face. I liked to call this look 'Zach's idea face'. "What is it?" Jonas said excitedly, apparently recognizing it also. "You've got something; what is it?" Jonas repeated.

Zach just leaned back and put his trademark cocky smirk on his face. "What if we could know what they were thinking?" That cryptic bastard. We don't have time to decipher his riddles; the girls could come down any second.

"Zach, the CIA hasn't released a proper mind reading device yet…" Jonas, ever the practical one, said nervously.

Nick just rolled his eyes, clearly not entertained by Zach's inability to just give a straight answer. Honestly, how Cammie will ever stand him is beyond me. "Zach, just spit it out."

"Well, they're girls, right?" He asked.

"Um… yeah?" I said, not quite sure where he was going with this.

"Girls love to talk. We just bug them when they come downstairs, then wait for them to go up into their room and start to gossip." He explained.

"How do you know they gossip up there?" Nick asked.

Zach shrugged. "They're up there for like, an hour. What else could they possibly be doing?"

"Then how do we know that they'll say where they want us to take them?" Jonas said.

Zach grimaced slightly. "Haven't quite figured that part out yet."

"I have an idea." I said. Everyone stared at me, shocked.

"Someone call the doctors. Grant has an idea." Nick said, only semi-sarcastically.

"Ha-ha." I said dryly. They all waited patiently. I just wanted to lean back and savor the moment; me having an idea and them not. I wondered if this was how Zach felt all the time. I could defiantly get used to this.

"Grant! Any day now would be great." Zach said.

"Right, sorry." I said, snapping out of my musings. "Why don't we just wait until they come down, and then mention to them that we're taking them somewhere. When they ask where, we'll just be like 'Oh, it's a surprise!' Then they're bound to go upstairs and talk about where they think we're taking them." There was a long pause.

"Dude… When did you start taking genius pills and where can I get some?" Nick asked as Jonas ran to get bugs.

There were some thumping and stomping noises upstairs and we all grinned at each other, knowing that it meant one thing.

_Action Time._

Cammie POV

I yawned and stretched, trying to spin around so that I could read the time on the alarm clock. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had fallen asleep with Zach in the little alcove of blankets Liz had constructed on the couch so that I could get over my hypothermia, so when I rolled over, I fell right on the floor. I got up, grumbling curse words under my breath on the way to the bathroom. I finally got a glance at the clock on the way out.

_Holy crap- it's eleven o'clock already? _I thought, rushing to the other rooms down the hall to wake up everyone else. Apparently the boys had already gotten up, since it was only the girls left in the room. We all walked downstairs together after I managed to wake them all up. (Bex needed some extra persuasion.)

When we got to the kitchen we were greeted with the sight of all the boys sitting around the table innocently drinking their coffee. "So…" Macey said, pouring herself a glass of orange juice and not wasting any time. "What are we going to do today?"

I had been secretly hoping that they had planned something special. I know the other girls were expecting it, what with them basically dating each of their boys. I couldn't justify expecting Zach to have something planned though. We weren't actually an item or anything.

"We were going to take you girls out somewhere special." Grant said casually, standing up and grabbing Bex by the waist.

"Really?" Bex asked suspiciously. "Where?"

"It's a surprise…" Nick said, eyeing Macey.

"Well, what should we wear to this surprise?" Macey asked.

"No, no. Can't tell you that. It might ruin it." Zach said.

"But… how will we dress correctly if we don't know where we're going?" Liz asked nervously.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine." Jonas promised.

After we finished eating, Macey dragged us back upstairs to get dressed. My head was swarming with ideas of where they would be taking us. I was so distracted that I barely even noticed that Macey grabbed my wrist and I was pulled into her room instead of my intended destination- my room.

"Well?" Macey asked when we were all behind the closed door. "Where do you think they're taking us?"

"This is so _dumb_." Bex complained. "Why can't they just tell us? We're going to end up either completely underdressed or completely overdressed."

"I know…" Macey sighed. "I swear, if Nick takes me to some fancy restaurant in Paris and doesn't tell me beforehand… I will never talk to him again."

I fought the urge to laugh at her dramatics. "You would really be _mad _if Nick took you out to a restaurant?" I asked skeptically. Macey had always complained about how her overall bitchy-ness meant that boys never felt the need to 'wine and dine' her quite as often.

"No." Macey spat. "I just wouldn't like it if I showed up underdressed." She said self consciously.

"I would just be happy to spend the day with Jonas… I don't really care where he takes me." Liz practically swooned.

"Ugh, Liz, you make it way too easy for him." Bex said.

"Well Bex? Do you have something you want to share with the class?" Macey asked, flicking through her closet, trying to find an item of clothing that might fit all possible dates.

"I dunno. I've pretty much seen all of Paris before. Family used to vacation here all the time. Grant's going to have a tad of trouble impressing me." She grinned wickedly. "Maybe he'll take me paintballing or something… it's been a while since I've done that…"

We all stared at her in disbelief. "You're in Paris… the city of _love…_ and you want to go play paintball?" I asked, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Yes, nothing says 'Je t'aime' quite like a paintball to the face. What about you, Cammie?" She teased me. "Anything in particular you're looking for on your date from Zach?"

"Well, unlike you, the only other time I've spent in Paris has been on missions, so I wouldn't mind a little sightseeing. But I'm not sure that _date _is the right word…" I said, picking at my cuticles.

"And why not?" Macey asked, almost incredulously.

"We seemed to be permanently stuck on the flirtatious banter stage… and for all I know he acts like that around every girl…" I muttered. They all exchanged a look that suggested that they knew something I did not.

"Trust me when I tell you this- Zach doesn't act like this with every girl." Macey said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"How do you know?" I rolled my eyes at her certainty.

"I just… do. Call it instincts." She smirked. "Now stop moping and let's try to find something to wear so I don't have to kill Nick."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sooo sorry for the wait! Next chapter will be the date! Thanks for all your suggestions; they really help. Do you want to hear about all the dates, or just Zach and Cammie's? Please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Zach POV

The girls all walked upstairs together and we rushed to get the hearing device for the bug that Grant put on Bex. "_Well? Where do you think they're taking us?_" Macey asked. We all grinned when she asked.

"_This is so dumb. Why can't they just tell us? We're going to end up either completely underdressed or completely overdressed." _Bex said.

"_I know…" _Cue dramatic sigh. "_I swear, if Nick takes me to some fancy restaurant in Paris and doesn't tell me… I'll never talk to him again." _

Nick rolled his eyes. "No fancy restaurants, then…" He mumbled under his breath. Then again, maybe he should take her to a fancy restaurant. McHenry never talking again… now that's something I could really enjoy.

"_You would really be mad if Nick took you to a fancy restaurant?_" I heard Cammie ask with disbelief.

_ "No. I just wouldn't like it if I showed up underdressed._" Nick grinned at this new piece of information.

"Sweet," He said, jumping up from the listening device to go make reservations at some five-star place.

"_I would just be happy to spend the day with Jonas… I don't care where he takes me._" Jonas smiled at hearing his low-maintenance fiancée's confession. He walked away after Nick, mumbling something about an art museum. Bex was complaining about her making it too easy for Jonas.

Grant leaned in as Bex talked about where she wanted to go. "_I dunno. I've pretty much seen all of Paris before. Family used to vacation here all the time. Grant's going to have a tad of trouble impressing me."_ I smirked at Grant's misfortune. "_Maybe he'll take me paintballing or something… it's been a while since I've done that…"_

Grant's mouth dropped open and he grinned so big I thought his face would split in two. "I have the best girlfriend ever!" He cheered, thrusting his fist in the air. I shushed him when I heard Cammie's voice over the bug.

"_Well, unlike you, the only other time I've spent in Paris is on missions, so I wouldn't mind a little sightseeing. But I'm not sure _date _is the right word..._" I frowned. What does she mean, 'not the right word'? I told her I loved her! Granted, she didn't hear me, but it still counts… right?

"_And why not?_" McHenry asked. I'll have to thank her later for asking that.

_ "We seemed to be permanently stuck on the flirtatious banter stage… and for all I know he acts like that around every girl…" _No, I defiantly don't. I may be a player, but I'm not a complete jerk. Does she think I am?

"_Trust me when I tell you this- Zach doesn't act like this with every girl._"

_"How do you know?_"

_Oh shit. They better not tell her what I said last night. She'll freak out. Don't say anything… _I silently pleaded in my head.

"_I just… do. Call it instincts. Now stop moping and let's try to find something to wear so I don't have to kill Nick._" I leaned back, relieved. I could do sightseeing. It would be nice. I smiled when I thought of spending the day with Cammie when neither of our lives were in eminent danger.

"_Screw this._" Someone said over the bug, which pulled me out of my thoughts. I heard stomping on the stairs and Macey screeched. "Boys!" We played hot potato with the listening device for a few seconds until Grant shoved it in the refrigerator just as Macey turned into the doorway.

"Tell us where we're going so we can dress properly." Liz, Cammie and Bex appeared behind her a few seconds later, looking more amused than pissed. I smirked at them.

"How about a compromise?" I asked. I pointed to Cammie. "Casual." I said, my smirk widening slightly.

Grant looked at Bex. "Casual… wear black." He said after a moment of thought. I could almost see the wheels in her brain trying to decipher what kind of date would call for casual black clothing.

"Casuals fine." Jonas said to Liz, sounding unsure of himself. How he ever mustered up the courage to propose to her will forever remain a mystery.

Nick smirked at Macey. "Fancy." He said.

She looked pleased with herself. "Now, that wasn't that hard, was it?"

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

I stood outside the safe house and my eyes flitted between the motorcycle and the helmet in Zach's outstretched hand. Jumping out of planes? Fine. Blood thirsty terrorists? Bring it on. But motorcycles? I'd rather not…

Zach seemed to be entertained by my internal struggle. "Why does everyone else get to take a car?" I asked unhappily.

He smirked at me and put the helmet into my unwilling hands before going to straddle the bike. "What's wrong sweetheart? You're not afraid, are you? I thought Gallagher Girls weren't afraid of anything…" He really knew just how to piss me off. I took a deep breath and put the helmet on, summoning up my courage.

I got on the bike behind him, wrapping my arms lightly around his stomach. I could feel his laughter. "You're going to have to hold on tighter then that Gallagher Girl…" The bike made a loud noise and shot forward a few feet, causing me to yelp and squeeze my arms tighter around him.

"You're a jerk." I resented my voice for the slight quiver as I accused him breathlessly. He responded by revving the motorcycle back to life again and blasting down to the street at speeds challenging that of the space shuttle.

* * *

><p><span>Liz POV<span>

I unbuckled my seatbelt and looked at Jonas, who was in the driver's seat. He was still clutching the steering wheel slightly, even though we had already stopped driving. He was nervous. He was always nervous; even though we had been going out for almost two years now, and engaged for about a month. I realized on the first date that he was just as shy as I was, if not more.

"Jonas?" I asked him. His fingers loosened around the steering wheel a bit at the sound of my voice. "Are we here?"

He looked very surprised, and I had to hold back a laugh, knowing that it wouldn't help to calm him. "What? Oh, yeah… sorry Liz." I took his hand off the steering wheel and squeezed it once before letting go and getting out.

I immediately recognized the train station as the Musée d'Orsay. I admired the beautiful architecture while I felt Jonas slip his hand into mine. I smiled down at our intertwined fingers, observing the fairly new addition of a big diamond on my ring finger.

"Remember that first mission we worked on together for Langley? It was involving drug smuggling into Paris through the art at certain museums?" He asked.

I did remember. I specifically remember being very distracted during that mission; and it had more to do with the very cute boy I was working with and less to do with the beauty of the art. I nodded. "It was the first time we met." I responded, smiling at the warm memory.

"Yeah," He replied with a similar expression on his face. "And I know that it's not a romantic dinner on top of the Eiffel, or a gondola ride down the Seine or anything, but I just figured that-"

I cut off his unnecessary ramble. "Jonas." He looked sheepish. "It's perfect."

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

"Cammie?" I peeked one eye open, still stuck in the same position that I had been in the entire motorcycle-ride-from-hell: my head on Zach's back, my eyes clamped shut and my arms tangled in a death grip around him. I was honestly surprised he could still breathe.

"Are you going to let go soon?" He asked calmly, as if he were asking me what I wanted for lunch.

I opened both eyes, seeing that we had stopped moving. I scrambled off the bike and pulled the black helmet off my head, releasing my naturally wavy blonde hair. I had to resist the urge to kiss the ground. Instead, I turned to Zach and stared at him accusingly. "Never again," I hissed at his smug expression.

I could tell he was biting back a smirk. "Well, at least there is one positive thing that came from this experience." He said, staring me up and down from head to toe.

"And what would that be?" I asked, shrugging off the leather jacket he had given me before we left.

"You look super hot in bike gear." He explained, throwing his arm around my shoulder. I bit my lip to keep the traitorous smile of amusement and flattery from gracing my lips. He pulled me away from the parking lot and I finally took notice of my surroundings.

We were in the heart of Paris, the tip of the Eiffel Tower barely seen over the tops of the buildings. The Seine River was to my left and there was a small park in front of us. "So I figured we could wander Paris today, maybe do a little sight-seeing." Zach said casually. I looked at him carefully. Somehow he had known exactly what I wanted to do today.

"Oh, come on. It's common knowledge that the only time you've spent in Paris is on missions." He said with a mischievous grin on his face when he saw my quizzical look. I felt my mouth drop open due to a mixture of shock and confusion.

"How did you…?" I trailed off.

He pointed to himself and mouthed "Spy."

It didn't take me long to put two and two together, and when I did I was sufficiently horrified. "You bugged our room! You spied on us!" I didn't say it like a question, because I knew that was the exact kind of stunt that Zach would pull. And I have no doubt that it was his idea. What a jerk.

"Yes, Gallagher Girl. The last time I checked that was what _spies _do." He said condescendingly.

"I can't believe you." I muttered under my breath.

"You love it." He replied easily, bumping my shoulder.

I raised my eyebrows at him in mock surprise. "I didn't realize we were at the 'l-word' stage yet." I said jokingly. He laughed, but it sounded forced. In fact, if it wasn't Zach Goode we were talking about here, I would have almost said that it sounded _nervous_.

"Come on." He said, changing the subject. "We've got places to go, people to see Gallagher Girl. How am I going to show you all of Paris if you keep lagging behind?"

I smiled despite myself. "I'll race you to the end of the park." I proposed.

His eyes brightened and I took off in a dead sprint down the street before he could even say go.

* * *

><p><span>Bex POV<span>

It was quite obvious to me that Grant had somehow bugged our room to find out where I wanted to go when we showed up to the paintball field. Somehow, I couldn't find it in my heart to be angry at him. Shocking, I know. I was more flattered then anything. I knew it was probably Zach Goode's idea anyway; I'll have to remember to kick his arse later.

For now though, Grant's punishment will just be having his ego ripped apart as I beat him in paintball. This is my thought process as I slink around in dark room clutching my paintball gun, listening only to my sound of breathing. When I play paintball, I get in the zone.

We had already taken out all the other players, so now it was just me and him left. I was going to cream him. I hid behind the concrete pillar that had been splatter painted all different colors from the paintballs where people had missed their targets. I focused on my breathing and trying to listen for any sound of movement. I didn't hear any. Not surprisingly, he was a spy after all.

Then again, so was I. "Grant?" I yelled into the empty space.

"Yes dear?" He yelled back. He was very naïve for a spy, that I realized.

"This is a great date Grant. You know what would make it better? If I could kiss you right now. Why don't you come out so I can kiss you?" There was a long pause where I could tell he was seriously considering it.

"No guns?" He asked innocently.

"No guns." I promised. I walked out slowly, making a show of throwing my gun on the ground. He smiled at me when he realized that it wasn't a trick. He threw his own gun down quickly and started to close the distance between us eagerly.

He started to lean in and our lips got very close, so close that I could feel his warm breath caressing my face. "Grant?" I questioned again softly. His eyes were already starting to close. I leaned into his ear and whispered two words. "You lose."

I then proceeded to take my previously concealed fistful of paintballs and smash them into his face.

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

"Tell me a secret." Zach ordered. It was almost dusk, and we had spent practically the entire day running from one landmark to the next. He had taken me to the Arch de Triumph, the Louvre, and Notre Dame. We were currently splayed out on the grass in one of the parks, waiting for the sun to go down. It was honestly the best date I've ever been on- and it hasn't even ended yet.

"What kind of secret?" I asked as he absentmindedly played with a strand of my hair.

He shrugged. "A secret- I dunno, just something no one else knows about you."

I huffed in exasperation. This was hard; considering I told Bex, Macey and Liz everything there was to know about me. "I… um… I had a secret relationship with a civilian boy during my sophomore year at Gallagher?" I said, making it sound like a question.

Zach rolled his eyes. "It's not a secret if it's written in your file Gallagher Girl."

I racked my brains. I didn't have a whole lot of secrets- which was strange when you think about it- I was a spy after all. There was only one thing that I could come up with that not a lot of people knew. My voice grew significantly softer as I spoke these next words. "Every year, on the anniversary of the day my father went missing, my mom and I take the day off just so we can sit in her office and look through old photo albums. Everyone usually just assumes that I'm sick. I never told anyone because I don't want them to worry."

As I said this, Zach sat up straighter from his slumped position. His finger was still interlaced with a strand of my blonde hair, but when I raised my eyes from their fixed position on my hands, his finger loosened and the hair fell into my eye. He promptly brushed it away. He looked into my eyes, and I was thankful to not see any pity swirling in their green depths. Instead, they radiated an aura of understanding.

I smiled. "It's your turn now."

He broke eye contact but didn't move his head. "Promise that you won't be upset?" He asked. Now I was confused. What secret of his could possibly cause me to be upset? I nodded my head dumbly.

"Okay," He took a deep breath. "My mother is a terrorist." I couldn't help it; I laughed. It was just so funny, how he said it. It sounded very strange. I noticed that he wasn't laughing and I sobered up.

"You weren't joking." I said, slight disbelief still lingering in my voice. He still wasn't meeting my eye, his face caught in some expression between guilt and embarrassment. "Are you…?" I felt stupid asking, but I just kind of needed to hear it from him.

"No. She wanted me to, but I… got out of it." He chose his words very carefully.

"Where is she now?"

"The terrorist agency she was… involved with- the Circle- they were taken down a while back. No one is really sure what happened to her. She just… dropped off the face of the earth." The Circle… why did that sound so familiar to me? I recalled several hushed conversations that I overheard between my mother and Mr. Solomon. I wonder… We were silent for a few minutes as I soaked it in.

"Okay." I said finally. He looked startled.

"Okay?" He breathed.

I nodded. "Okay." I confirmed.

He smiled so brightly I felt my breathing catch and I was momentarily dazzled. He didn't seem to notice and pulled me in to him, hugging me tightly. "Thanks." He whispered in my ear.

I grinned and felt slightly like I was floating on air. "No problem," He laughed and pulled away. I noticed how his eyes flickered subtly to my lips before they met my eyes again.

"Come on Cam; we have one more place left to go before the night ends."

* * *

><p><span>Macey POV<span>

This date is perfect. Although I will never admit it aloud, and if you accuse me of enjoying myself I with thoroughly deny it, I was having fun. A lot of fun, actually. I was kind of hinting to Nick my good mood by my lack of complaining.

I could tell he was trying his hardest- there was a significant drop in the amount of cocky comments about me. I did have high expectations for this date however, seeing as I wore a very expensive black dress. I almost wore the Gucci stilettos that I had to glue back together after his "attack" on them, but I decided against it.

"Was the dinner okay?" Nick asked me with his arm around my waist.

"Yeah, it was really good… thank you." I said, smiling at him sincerely. He smiled back and we fell into a comfortable silence on the walk to the car. That is at least, until we heard an obnoxious male voice yell my name.

"Macey! Hey, Macey McHenry!" I reluctantly turned around to see Tyler Hansen, an ex-boyfriend of mine. Yes, he was a spy. Just a really shitty one.

I groaned quietly, but I think that Nick heard because he gave me a curious look. I put on a fake smile. "Tyler… hey. It's been a while." I said, completely unenthusiastically.

He leaned in for a hug and I unconsciously stiffened, making it awkward. Not that he would notice- I smelt so much alcohol in his breath that he would probably give away government secrets right now if I asked him. Idiot. "Wow Mace. You look… good!" He slurred.

"Thanks. You look…" I trailed off and gave him a once over. He did not look good, to say the least. Tyler had always been very attractive, and he still was. It just kind of looked like he had slept in a hole every night since a year ago, when I last saw him. "A bit like a heroin addict." I finished. I was never one for sugar-coating things. I heard Nick cough back a laugh next to me, but Tyler was oblivious. I don't think he's even acknowledged Nick's presence yet.

Tyler narrowed his eyes at me. "Still a bitch though…" He grumbled.

Nick's eyebrows shot up at that. "Hey, don't call her that." He said angrily.

Tyler stumbled backwards slightly as if Nick's words had physically hit him. He finally turned to Nick. "And you are…?"

"Her boyfriend." Nick said, possessively wrapping his arm tighter around my waist. My heart flew at his use of the word 'boyfriend'. I smirked at the torrent of emotions that seemed to pass on Tyler's face at once.

"Are you kidding me? Let me tell yah right now buddy- this girl right here- she uses you. She uses you, and then she drops you like… like it's no big deal!" He said loudly. I rolled my eyes at his drunken state.

"Tyler you cheated on me with three different girls and then you tried to hit on Liz. Sorry, but you don't get any pity points." I said. Tyler then proceeded to go on a rant about what a terrible person I was, complete with the colorful vocabulary. I didn't really know what happened until I saw Tyler laying unmoving on the ground and Nick flexing his hand the tiniest bit.

I gaped at Nick. _He knocked him out cold! And in one punch too… damn that boy's got muscle… _

He must have read my expression because he grinned. "Sorry 'bout that, he was pissing me off. Shall we go now, princess?"

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

If you think the Eiffel Tower is pretty during the day- you haven't seen anything yet. At night, it's lit up with yellow lights that twinkle in the dark, sending dancing reflections into the fountain in front of it. I think I stood there for about five minutes in complete awe, just staring up at it.

"Do you want to go up or not Gallagher Girl?" Zach asked, pulling me out of my stupor.

I was annoyed that he even had to ask. "Of course I want to." I said pulling him along with me as we took one of the crowded elevators up. We reached the top and we walked to the side so we could get a clear view of Paris.

It was cold and there was a breeze, so Zach handed me his jacket. I smiled at the clichéd, yet still sweet gesture. The view of Paris was amazing. There were so many lights- everything was so bright. "Look! There's our hotel!" I said, my voice filled with childlike wonder.

"Yup. And there's the hotel where we have to meet tomorrow morning." Ugh, that's right. I actually forgot that this was a mission. I can't believe I have to wake up tomorrow and go intercept nuclear codes.

That makes me wonder- what happens when this mission ends? Do we just go back to our desk jobs? Will I ever see Zach again? What about what's happening right now- Zach and my relationship? Will that continue even though the mission is over? Part of me wished it could go on forever. Just thinking about never seeing him again gave me an uncomfortable clench in my stomach.

"Cammie?" Zach questioned, bringing me back to reality. He wasn't calling me Gallagher Girl or sweetheart or even 'Cams', so I turned around, knowing the next thing he had to say would be inevitably important.

But I was wrong. He didn't say anything important. He just kissed me.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know, I know, I'm a terrible person. In my defense, there was an earthquake and a hurricane followed closely by monsoons in which my power went out three times. I'm not kidding. But here's a long chapter- please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Cammie POV

It took me a second for my mind to completely understand what was happening. I was kissing Zach on top of the Eiffel Tower. Zach was kissing me on top of the Eiffel Tower. My brain, while jumbled, couldn't help but take note on how soft his lips felt on mine, and how he tasted slightly of spearmint. My hands left from where they were dangling uselessly at my sides to entangle in his hair and pull him even closer. In response to my movement, one of his hands left its place from my face to wrap tightly around my waist, while his other hand stayed in its position and he began softly rubbing up and down on my cheek with his thumb. It felt like a million butterflies had been released into my stomach.

After a few minutes I had to pull back for air. He placed a few chaste kisses on my jawbone before he rested his forehead on mine and sighed. I stared into his piercing green eyes and felt myself transfixed. We were both still breathing somewhat unevenly from the kiss. He grinned- a real grin, not even a hint of smirk.

"That was…" I said, trailing off in a futile attempt to find an adjective that could properly describe how great that kiss was.

"Nice?" Zach answered sarcastically, moving a stray hair out of my face.

"Sure, let's go with that." Zach laughed loudly, causing a few people to turn their heads and look at us. You know, just in case they weren't already staring at us because of our make out session. I was starting to feel very conspicuous for a chameleon.

He tilted my head up with his index finger on my chin, brushing my lips against his one last time ever so lightly, lingering a few seconds before pulling me to his chest. The air outside was cold, but I couldn't be less concerned about it. I wished I could just suspend this moment eternally.

Too soon, he gripped my shoulders and pulled me away, holding me at an arm's length. "We should go," He said reluctantly, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

"No…" I grumbled, forcing myself back into his arms. "I want to stay here forever." I realized that I probably sounded like a child, but I couldn't help but voice my thoughts.

I could feel his laughter. "So do I, Gallagher Girl, but we have an important day tomorrow, and we both need our rest." I normally would have felt annoyance at the nickname, but now it only seemed to further agitate the butterflies in my chest.

_Ugh, reality. Who knew you could be so cruel? _I thought as I removed myself from his warm embrace.

"Are you still going to make me ride the motorcycle back?" I asked on the elevator ride down.

"Are you implying that you don't like my motorcycle?" He asked with mock hurt.

"How did you guess?" His response was a smirk.

"You can have this back, by the way." I said, handing him his jacket as we approached the glorified death machine.

"Keep it sweetheart. It looks better on you anyway." He whispered in my ear. I was glad it was dark outside and he couldn't see my blush.

"You're late!" Macey chided us as we pulled into the driveway. Judging on the number of cars parked outside the safe house, we were the last people home from the date.

"Sorry, Mom." Zach said sarcastically as he cut the engine. She ignored him and continued her lecture.

"Cammie! You weren't answering your phone. With your luck I had assumed that you fell off the Eiffel Tower or something."

"Hey!" I said, offended. I'm not clumsy. There just seem to be a lot of people who like to kill me.

"Cam and I were… busy…" Zach said suggestively when we entered the house.

"Ew. If you guys were having-"

"Mace! If you value your life, you will not finish that sentence." I cut her off, trying to save myself the embarrassment. Zach however, seemed very entertained by her assumption.

"It's fine!" She said, holding up her hands innocently. "I just don't want to know about it."

I glared at Macey. She knew quite well that we hadn't _done _anything… like that. She was just doing it to make me uncomfortable. And she was succeeding.

"Come on lovebirds. We have a mission to prepare for, in case you've forgotten." Macey said while walking around us to get to the dining room. We spent the rest of the night preparing for the upcoming morning. We all went up to our room at ten o'clock, planning on waking up early to finish getting ready.

Of course, not before Macey dragged all of us girls into the bedroom yet again for a full debriefing of our date. She opened her mouth to start speaking but I held up my hand to stop her. "Wait. Let's sweep the room for bugs first." I said.

"Bugs?" Macey asked incredulously. "As in the spy kind? This is a safe house…" Ah, she didn't know. Nick was in for a beating.

"Yes, as in the spy kind. How do you think the boys knew exactly where we wanted to go on our dates?" Bex explained. Liz looked merely surprised, while Macey looked furious.

"Here," Liz said, pulling a bug detector out of her suitcase. We waved it around the room until it started going crazy and beeping rather loudly when it neared Bex's hair.

She felt her head, and sure enough, there was a tiny little bug stuck to a strand of her hair. Macey took it from Bex and rolled it around in her hands for a few seconds. I could see a plan forming on her face. She motioned for us to be silent and follow her downstairs.

The boys were still sitting at the dining room table. "I think this is yours." She said, dropping the bug down in the middle of the table for all of them to see. I almost burst out into laughter at Nick's face- a mixture of surprise, guilt and fear.

"What are you going to do to him?" Liz asked quietly before we retired to our rooms for the night.

"Nothing." Macey smirked. "I'll just let the suspense slowly kill him." She truly was evil.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Cammie POV

With the morning came nerves. It was six am, and still dark outside when we all drove back to the hotel next door to the Westin. It probably wasn't the safest move, but all of our clothes used to make us appear more like the Hunters were left there. By eight am I was fully dressed in my cover clothes. Macey had made them easily convertible into clothes that were more suitable for running and fighting. Everyone but Zach and I went back to the safe house to watch over us from cameras and surveillance equipment we had set up prior.

"Are you nervous?" I asked Zach. We were sitting in the hotel room; it was about 9:15. I couldn't stop fidgeting, but Zach was as still as a rock.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Your nervousness is making me nervous. Stop squirming." He ordered, putting his hand on my knee to stop it from moving.

"Sorry." I exhaled. "I hate waiting."

He smirked. "I can help you relax, if you want." This got him a glare. "I'm serious though! Come here." He said innocently.

I looked at him suspiciously but didn't argue, shifting slightly so he could pull me into his lap. He nuzzled into my neck and I calmed. He smelled really good. "Better?" He asked smugly.

I ignored his tone. "Better." I agreed.

"I would ask you not to go off and get yourself killed, but it seems to be your specialty, so I won't to you the disrespect." I pulled his hair.

"It's okay though, because saving me seems to be your specialty. At least there's something you're good for." He bit my neck playfully and I yelped, pushing him away and glaring. I ran to the mirror and examined the now pink mark on my neck.

"Married people don't have hickeys Zach." I said, pushing his shoulder roughly.

Smirk. "I can kiss it all better if you want." I shook my head to convey my annoyance and went to the bathroom to cover it up with some makeup. We spent a few more minutes securing the comms system in our ears before I took Zach's arm and we walked out to the street.

The Westin was right next door, but the walk felt like miles instead of mere footsteps. When we finally made it to the lobby, I was half-expecting it to be a warzone complete with hostages and SWAT teams. Instead, we found it exceedingly normal- businessmen in suits with briefcases were lined up at the check-in, there were a few couples crowding around the tourist booth, and a substantial line at the little coffee cart.

"I don't see Draganov." I whispered to Zach, almost anxious that we had the wrong hotel.

"Stop. Worrying. If he wants us to see him, we will. Just act natural." He advised. Sure enough, we sat down on one of the couches and not even a full minute later one of the receptionists announced that there was a letter there for the Hunters.

Zach and I accepted the letter. We shared a glance before tearing it open. _This area is not secure. Go outside and call a taxi, give him the address at the bottom of the page. Make sure you are not being followed._ Under the note was listed an address.

"What do we do?" It's one thing to walk into a possible trap when it's in a public area with plenty of witnesses. It's another to walk into one in an unknown, possibly vacant address.

Zach sighed. "I don't see that we have much of a choice here. We do what they tell us to." They held the cards now, and they were going to take full advantage of that fact. As far as they're concerned, they say jump we say how high.

We hailed a taxi and showed him the address. The tense ten minute ride took us through the city into a more industrial looking area. The only sense of security that remained in my mind was the fact that Liz had made us both take ingestible GPS trackers, so she would be able to find us if anything were to happen.

The taxi pulled up to a warehouse-looking place. Zach paid the cab driver and he sped away, leaving us alone. It was cloudy outside and the tall buildings cast shadows over one another, making it hard to make out details. It was the kind of place that just screamed of a trap.

"You're as white as a ghost. Take a deep breath. I'm going to keep you safe, remember?" His words were sincere, for once. His confidence gave me a little reassurance. We walked through the front door with his arm around my waist.

The lights in the warehouse turned on when the door opened; one by one until the entire room was lit. There didn't seem to be anyone here. I took a tentative step forward. The room was completely empty except for the flash drive- the same one I had identified two nights ago.

Finally, I couldn't stand the suspense any longer. I ran over to the drive, ignoring Zach's protests behind me. When I reached the stand where it was held, I was expecting _something_- a note, an explanation, further directions on what to do with the drive, but there was nothing.

"What do you think? Should we just take it?" I asked him. It was clear there was no one in the room with us, but that doesn't mean we weren't being watched with cameras.

He snorted. "And what? Let it be one of those Indiana Jones type deals and the second we touch it a giant boulder falls from the ceiling an crushes us? No thank you." Of course he could find humor in this situation. This was only a highly classified, possibly life-threatening nuclear transaction after all- occasions for hilarity were at every turn.

However, he did have a point. If the stand was pressure sensitive, it could- at the very least- set off some sort of alarm. Though why would they send us all this way only to lure us into a trap? If they knew we were CIA agents, they've had plenty of opportunities to kill us prior to this moment.

It was with this logic in mind that I swiped the flash drive off the stand quickly before I could talk myself out of it. Zach gaped at me. "Are you crazy! Did you not hear a word I just said?" His eyes snapped around the room as if expecting poison darts to shoot from the walls.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be a baby. We're fine, see?" I put the flash drive back on the pedestal and picked it back up again; emphasizing the fact that nothing was going to pop out at us.

"What happened to the girl who was practically hyperventilating in the taxi? Where did all of this backbone come from all of the sudden?" He mocked, still slightly shocked.

"I told you I don't like waiting. Besides, my idea was better than yours; which was to do _nothing_."

He muttered something under his breath about a crazy girl with a death wish. "So what now, almighty Cammie?"

I actually have no idea. "We, um… leave?" I said, making my way to the door. There was no way it could be this easy- could it? I reached for the handle and pulled. Nothing. I pushed on the handle. Still nothing. Of course it couldn't be this easy.

"We're locked in." I told Zach, refusing to let the panic slip into my voice just yet. We could still pick the lock, and the others would come find us before we starve to death. He pulled a pick out of his pockets and knelt down so that he was eye level with the handle.

"I can't pick this." He said, standing back up and brushing the dust from the floor off his jeans.

"What? Why? Christ, hand me the lock picks if you're so incapable." I said impatiently, holding my hand out expectantly.

"You can't pick it either sweetheart. It's a digital lock that requires both a digital card and a DNA sample." He informed me.

"You know," A voice from behind us said conversationally. "For the son of Cassandra Goode and the daughter of Matthew Morgan, I really expected more from you two." And that's when I knew we were screwed.

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><p><strong>AN: So for the next chapter I'll let you guys choose- do you want Zach POV or Cammie? Let me know which one you like better- and thanks for reading!**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Zach POV

"For the son of Cassandra Goode and the daughter of Matthew Morgan, I really expected more from you two." I turned around faster than humanly possible, simultaneously pushing Cammie slightly behind me on instinct in an attempt to protect her from the voice. She was also instinctively adamant, angling herself so that she was just as exposed to danger as I was.

_Spectacular. Why won't she just for once let me protect her? _I could practically hear her in my head, chiding me and telling me that Gallagher Girls don't need protecting.

"How do you know my father?" Cammie asked Draganov, her voice laced with contempt. Unfortunately, I know men like Draganov all too well, having dealt with them for most of my teenage life. I can almost guarantee that he knew little to nothing about her father- or my mother for that matter. But he _did _know that it was one of her weak spots… and would use it against her.

"Hm, yes, if I recall correctly, you're Daddy's little girl, right?" He said thoughtfully.

"Cammie… he's lying. Trust me." I whispered in her ear, hoping desperately that she wouldn't do anything stupid.

"How is Cassie, Zach? Have you talked to her recently?" Draganov asked, maintaining his conversational tone. I rolled my eyes, not impressed with his attempt at mind-games. He can stand there and pretend that he knew my mother, but in reality he doesn't look much older than me. When she went missing, he would have been about seventeen, eighteen tops. He needs to get some new material, because insults to my poor mother-son relationship do nothing for me anymore.

"What do you want?" Best to get to the point already. I don't have the patience to pretend that we were just going to stand here and talk politely.

"So rude Zach, so rude. Well, I suppose I want to kill you. Both of you." Despite the fact that there was nothing funny about this situation, I smirked. Someone told me once that the smirking was my version of an unconscious defense mechanism. I told them it was called cockiness, and I was perfectly conscious of it. Offensive crap right there.

"You want to kill us? How? Last time I checked… we outnumber you." Unless he was hiding a cavalry in the pocket of his ridiculously expensive looking suit, then yeah… And he didn't really look like the fighting-type anyway. Pretty sure Cammie and I can kick his ass blindfolded.

"And what if I told you that you currently have ten snipers pointed in your direction right now?" He challenged.

Yeah, sure. And you also have a big red button that you press that will drop us into a moat full of hungry alligators. "I would say you're bluffing." Despite my confident words, my mind ran through escape possibilities.

Running was out of the question, because there was only one exit which was locked. Fighting might work, but his one hand in his coat pocket suggested he had some sort of gun or other weapon that he was clutching right now. Not that we didn't have weapons, but surely if we went to reach for them he would figure out what we were doing. Liz had given us panic buttons to use when and if we needed them. I saw Cammie press hers earlier. So that's it then. Wait for Liz and Jonas, and keep Draganov talking until they showed up.

"Zach…" Cammie whispered, hesitant. Says the girl who just walked across what could have been a high-security room without bothering to check first. Not that wasn't completely hot or anything… but way to give me a near heart-attack.

"I'm not sure you and your girlfriend are really in any position to start calling bluffs Zach." I hated how he was talking to me like we were old drinking buddies or something.

"You set this up! What's the big deal anyway- why did you need _us_ so bad? We're just two agents." Cammie said, clearly getting a little worked up.

Draganov turned to address her. "It's not just you Cameron. Your mother and aunt have both caused a lot of trouble for us in the past. And if we can't get them, then why not the next best thing? It was surprisingly easy to lure you here. Besides, Zach here has been a bit of a prize in our business since his teenage years."

He jeered mockingly at me. "Mommy was so intent on Zach carrying on the family name, wasn't she Zachy? But we just weren't good enough for you." He sighed dramatically. "I suppose that's why I have to do this now." He said, pulling out a gun so that it was pointed at my chest. Playtime was over, I guess.

"_Stop_!" Cammie's voice echoed in the empty warehouse. She tried to push herself in front of me, but that was not happening.

Draganov looked curiously between the two of us. A look of understanding seemed to dawn on his features. "Ah, young love. Let's see if it goes both ways." He taunted, changing the direction of the gun until it was pointed at Cam.

I was surprised by the feeling of panic that came over me to see the weapon pointed at her like that. It was stronger than the panic that came when he pointed it at me, certainly. "Stop with the damn games Draganov." I growled, pushing Cammie further back until her body was completely covered by mine. Human shield wasn't exactly in the job description, but I was happy to make an exception for the girl I love.

Just five more minutes. Keep him talking for five more minutes. They'll be here.

Draganov shrugged indifferently. "I was going to wait a little while longer to shoot you, but if you're in such a hurry; it's no inconvenience to me."

And yeah, he shot me.

Too late.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm really sorry for the late update! My updates are going to be a little more infrequent and erratic nowadays- and this applies to all my stories. Was this chapter okay? It was hard to write. Thanks for all your amazing reviews- they are like the best inspiration to write anyone could ever have!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Cammie POV

It all happened so… _slowly._ One second Zach is talking with Draganov- he's stalling, I can tell- and then I'm thinking _we're gonna make it, Liz is going_ _to find us_ and then Draganov pulls out a gun and then…

_And then…_

Then there's a gunshot. Then there's Zach falling on the ground. Then there's someone's voice _screaming_ Zach's name. I realize that it's my voice. But right now it seems _so far away._ My own voice is miles in the distance. There's a term for this, I think. An out-of-body experience? That's what happening right now.

My body is doing things my mind is not fully conscious of. Like raising my leg to kick the gun out of his hand. The gun that was now pointed at me. And then Draganov is unconscious and I'm really not sure how but I think I did it somehow. I'm a spy, my body was conditioned to do these things, even if I'm not really there.

Because I'm not. There, I mean. Where am I? I don't know. But I'm definitely not that girl who just knocked out Draganov in three well placed punches.

"Zach?" I ran over to his side and knelt down beside him. Suddenly the full force of the situation hit me and I was back. I didn't feel miles away anymore I felt like I was _right here_ and somehow that was even more terrifying. Because this wasn't a very nice place to be.

"Zach…" I whispered, trying to check to see where the bullet hit. His eyes were closed. When he heard his name for the second time, one eye opened. There was a glint in his eye.

That's when I saw it. The smirk.

"That was fun." He sat up effortlessly. I was gaping. I replayed the events in my head.

Yeah, he was definitely shot. I totally saw that happen.

Zach took advantage of my stupor to kiss me like there was no tomorrow. Literally. He just grabbed my face, pulled me down to his level, and started kissing the crap out of me. I was just too shocked to kiss back. I pulled back. "How…?"

His smirk widened and he started to unbutton his shirt, revealing a bullet proof vest. "Bulletproof vest sweetheart." His shirt was ripped where the bullet penetrated, and there was a little redness and bruising where the bullet _should_ have hit him, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"Are you okay?" He was rubbing his chest like he was sore, but other than that he looked fine.

"Yup,"

"Good." I hit him upside the head.

"_Ow _Gallagher Girl! What was that for?" What a baby. I barely touched him.

"_One_, giving me a heart attack, _two_ not helping me when I had to knock Draganov unconscious, _three_ for not giving me a bulletproof vest also, and _four_ for SMIRKING." I ticked off the reasons on my hands. "To name a few."

He was silent for a moment. "Wow. My smirking really bothers you, doesn't it?" He looked thoughtful. "I suppose I'll have to do it more often then."

I think this is what they call "digging your own grave".

"Besides," He continued. "It's not like you haven't given me many heart attacks before. How many times is it that I've saved your life before? Like, twelve?"

I rolled my eyes. "Two, Zach. It's been two times."

"Oh, right." He nodded his head. "So, does this mean I have your permission from now on to smack you around every time you have a near-death experience?"

I waved my hand dismissively, my mind now focused on other things. "Yeah, yeah, sure." I told him, not really aware what I was agreeing to.

We still haven't solved the "how-the-hell-do-we-get-out-of-here" problem. It had occurred to me that Draganov had to have come from somewhere. He wasn't in the room when we first got here. Logically, if he came in that way… we can get out the same way. Right?

"Cammie!" Zach yelled, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I replied intelligently, making eye contact with him.

He huffed at me. "Geez, I've been calling your name for about five minutes. Where did you go just now?"

Instead of an answer, I just ran to the sides of the room and started running my hands along them. "There has to be a secret passageway somewhere. Draganov can't just beam himself in here… if we can find that… we can get out." I rambled on purposelessly.

Zach seemed to figure it out though, because he started looking for exits as well. I was in my element now, having spent the majority of my childhood ducking in and out of the secret passageways at Gallagher. The bricks on the walls seemed to be in a constant pattern, but eventually I got to a brick that looked a bit smaller than the others.

I didn't say anything at first, just tracing my finger around the outline of the brick and pushing the palm of my hand into it. It collapsed under my touch, the brick moving away silently to reveal a (you guessed it) secret route.

I called Zach and we went down the alleyway together. It led us up a few flights of stairs until it finally opened to the roof. "Well, this is helpful." Zach said sarcastically. "On one hand, we're now out of the _room_ in which we had no way to get out, but on the other hand, we are now on a _roof_ in which we have no way to get out."

"Stop being grumpy. It's an improvement." He was just jealous because I found the passageway and he didn't. What a drama queen.

I walked to the edge of the building to see if there was a ladder or something else we could use to get down. And then I did something really stupid.

I slipped.

I yelped and one of my hands caught on one of the bricks that bumped out from the side of the building. I could feel the bricks cut into the palm of my hand, but no matter how deep it cut, I had a death grip on that brick. I would never let go of it. If I fell from this height, there was no question. I would die.

I saw the top of Zach's head peer over from the side of the building. I saw panic in his expression for one second before…

Smirk.

_The nerve of that boy…_ I just want to smack it off his face. Or kiss it off. Or both.

"Give me your hand." He said, reaching down for me. Was he insane?

"I can't do that!" I nearly shrieked. His hand was still way too far away to reach. I would have to attempt to swing myself, than use the momentum to grab his hand. And maybe even _then_ I might not be able to reach it.

"Why not? I thought you were a _Gallagher Girl_."

"Zach! Gallagher Girl and super human are not synonymous."

"Try." He commanded.

I sighed and tried, not getting it. It only succeeded in hurting the hand that was holding onto the brick more. He looked at me patiently, unconcerned.

"Try _again_."

Infuriating boy. "_Stop smirking Goddamnit!_" I screamed at him.

In my rage, I swung my hand around and it made contact with his. His forearm flexed as he pulled me up to him. He wrapped me into his arms as my feet touched the concrete roof. "_God_, I hate you right now." I informed him breathlessly, but returning the hug anyway.

He breathed deeply into my hair. "_God…_" He started in the same tone that I had used.

"I love you right now." He ended.

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><p><strong>AN: I really like this chapter. Review please? Thanks for all the support!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Cammie POV

_Love. Zach just said 'love'_. _And he used it in reference to _me_, none the less._

I found myself unconsciously smiling, and pulling his hair to bring his face back to mine. "I love you, too." I mumbled onto his lips.

He hummed in contentment and I could feel his equally bright grin against my lips. His hands slid down to my hips and dragged me towards him until I was a flush with his body. His wandering hands traveled even lower until…

He slapped my ass.

No, I don't think you heard me correctly. He _slapped _my _ass_. Consider moment: ruined.

"What the hell?" I asked, jerking my head back. He had a smug smirk on his face.

"You said I had permission to, and I quote, 'smack you around' every time you nearly die. I believe those _were_ the terms we agreed upon? Because I think that dangling off tall buildings counts as a near-death experience." He explained, pulling me close to him again.

I shook my head at his logic. "I repeat, _what the hell_?" I asked, not content to let him off so easy.

He grinned and chuckled at my indignant face, leaning over to kiss my neck. "I love you…" He murmured again. He tilted his head up to kiss my jaw. "Love you…" He repeated. Now that he's said it once, it seems that he cannot stop saying it.

I sighed and brought his face back up to kiss him on the lips. "Zach?" I breathed.

"Hmm?" He asked, concentrating more on my lips then the words coming out of them.

"Don't think that now every time you do something stupid that you can just-" I had to momentarily pause my lecture as he pressed his lips passionately to mine. When I began again, I was out of breath. "Say that phrase over and over again and I'll forgive you." I finally got out.

He detached his lips from mine and actually had the audacity to look offended. "_Sweetheart_, I would never!" He said, his swollen lips twitching into what looked to be a combination of a smile and a smirk and giving him away. Like I would have believed him anyway.

"Of course not." I agreed. As much as I would love to just bask in the devoted glory of our newly professed love, we did still have to figure out an escape plan. That was sarcasm there, in case you didn't notice. "Come on, let's figure out a way out of here." I said, pulling him by hand back to the edge of the building- _carefully_ this time.

Zach peeked over the edge. "Well, lucky us." He stated, to my confusion. I have yet to find anything remotely _lucky_ about our present situation. "Grant!" He yelled over the edge.

Originally, I had intended not to risk my footing and come near the end of the roof again, but I just couldn't help myself- curiosity got the best of me. Liz, Bex and Macey were huddled at the door, attempting to break into it while Grant, Nick and Jonas seemed to be surveying the front of the building, looking for another way to get in.

"Hey! Up here!" Zach yelled again, until finally Nick looked up from what he was doing.

"Zach!" He yelled back, gaining the interest of the others who looked up and realized our presence as well. "Liz said you pressed the button; are you guys okay?"

I bit my lip. It was kind of a long story that would probably not be best told when yelled off the roof of a building, so I responded for Zach. "We don't have any way to get down!" I told him, completely disregarding the original question.

They conversed with each another for a minute or two, but it was too far away for us to hear. If I had to guess, I would say by Bex's slightly raised voice and the bratty look on Macey's face, they were arguing about the best way to get us down. Eventually, Grant walked off and Macey looked back up to us.

"Cam? Grant is going to get a grappling hook. He's gonna throw it up then you can use it to rappel down." I gave her a thumbs up then turned back to Zach.

"Well, that solves that problem then. Now can we get back to what we were doing before?" He asked, suggestively raising his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes good-naturedly at his immature and insatiable behavior that can only be described as boyish. "Can we not do this in front of our friends?" I said with a hint of laughter in my voice.

"Well, I mean, if _that's _the problem, we can just walk over to the other end of the roof…"

I never got to answer to _that_ particular suggestion because then Grant came back with the grappling hook and rope. "I'm just going to throw this up there, and then you catch it, okay guys?" He yelled, pulling his arm back in preparation.

"Yup, sure!" I agreed. It took a few tries, but we finally managed to catch it. Zach and I hooked it to the side of the building and made sure it was secure.

"After you, milady." Zach offered in a British accent with a grand hand gesture.

"Thank you, kind gentleman." I said wearing a poker face and speaking with an equally convincing inflection.

Of course, he had to go and ruin the whole thing by yelling "Try not to die!" as I was halfway down the building. Honestly, when I reached the bottom, I had half a mind to pull the hook off and just leave him up there. It would serve him right, what with the ass-smacking and all the little sarcastic jabs. And I just _know _he's never going to stop making fun of me for almost slipping off the roof.

He smoothly slid down after me, and when we had both touched the ground we were suffocated in a large group hug. "Oh, goodness I am _so glad_ that I installed those tracking devices." Liz rambled on. "I _told_ you, didn't I? I _told _you they were a good idea, but Zach you just said _noooo_, we don't need them, but you see! You see! We _did_ need them, we-"

"Liz." I said, trying to stop her lecture- unsuccessfully as she just continued on. "Liz!" I said more forcefully, finally getting her to shut up for a minute.

"Liz, you know we love you," Bex started off, sounding like she was staging an intervention. "But you really sound like Cammie's mom right now."

She blushed a deep crimson. "Really? Was it that bad?"

All the girls, myself included, nodded solemnly. The boys had all taken a few steps back and were looking at us, amused. "Let's go back to the safe house guys. Zach and I will give you the basic run-down of everything that happened on the way there." I suggested before we all filed into the white van they had arrived in.

It wasn't until we were on the road until I realized with a little lurch in my stomach: The mission is almost _over_. Which means I'll have to be relocated to some other city, with some other crappy job. Which means the same for everyone else, most specifically, _Zach_. Which means… what now?

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><p><strong>AN: Oh my gosh, we're getting pretty close to an ending you guys… That makes me sad. I'm gonna say at least another two or three chapters, though. If I reach 300 reviews it will make my day. So, please? I love you all- thanks so much for reading! Also, Tennis Freak Loves Gale and Hates MJ- You and your many reviews make me indescribably happy. And to answer your question, Zach was wearing a mask in the beginning because he is a devious jerk who enjoys scaring the daylights out of pretty girls. Wow, long A/N. Whoops.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Zach POV

We had one more night in Paris before we had to go back to Langley to be debriefed. The director scheduled a flight for us the next morning- no private jet this time. I'm glad that the mission is over. I mean, as far as missions go, this one will definitely go down as one of my favorites, don't get me wrong. But I'll be glad to be back in the States- back in _safety._ I'll be glad to have the peace of mind that Cammie is safe.

I've never really felt that before. Sure, I've had friends, I've had girlfriends. But a loved one? Love has always been a weakness of mine, mainly because I've never really understood it before. I've never experienced it- any type of it. I never knew my father, and my _mother_… well… let's just say that's a stone best left unturned.

And then Cammie came along and screwed everything up. And now I can't get enough of love. I want _more _of it. No, scratch that. I _need _it. I really don't think I could live without love anymore. And it's all her fault. And that's also what I love about her- that she makes me a better person, just by being herself.

I subconsciously rolled over on the bed, trying to find her and pull her closer to me in my sleep. When my arms reached out to try and find her, they were greeted with emptiness and cold sheets. I sat up and rubbed the last of the tired out of my eyes, looking over at the glowing green alarm clock on the nightstand.

3:45 am. There was no light on in the bathroom, so where could she have possibly gone at this hour? I strained my eyes in the dark room and saw that the door to the hall was open a crack. I slipped out from under the covers and walked quietly down the stairs, my CIA-trained hearing instinctively becoming hyperaware of any noises that might alert me to where she has disappeared to.

The sound of some cupboard doors being softly opened and closed coming from the direction of the kitchen proved to be my answer. I walked in and immediately lowered my guard, seeing her slightly bended into the open refrigerator, not yet alerted to my arrival.

"Midnight snack?" I asked, causing her to spin around in surprise. Seeing her like that- dressed in shorts and a tank top, a few pieces of wayward hair curling out of her messy, haphazard ponytail, bathed in the glowing artificial light from the refrigerator… I can't even begin to describe how beautiful she looked right now. I thought I would never see anything more radiant than how she looked that night at the party. I was wrong. It was everything I could do to keep myself from gaping at her.

She blushed sheepishly and looked up at me from under her eyelashes, only adding to the surreal, angel-like vision she was currently creating. "Yeah, I was hungry." She said with a shy smile.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked, sitting down on one of the bar stools near the granite countertop.

She smiled wider and put a finger to her chin, mocking me with playful consideration. "Well, that depends. Are you going to help?" She asked, taking a few ingredients out of the fridge and setting them onto the counter.

I leaned closer to her. "I'm pretty sure you don't want my help. Don't tell anyone, but I'm a bit of a disaster in the kitchen. Cooking is more Grant's forte." I whispered, inhaling her intoxicating scent.

She gasped dramatically. "You mean the almighty Zachary Goode has a weakness?"

_More than you know sweetheart, more than you know._ "Shocking, right?"

"Well, you are lucky to have me then. My mom was _terrible_ in the kitchen also, you two would probably get along. I've taught myself a minimal amount of abilities. How about pancakes?" She said, reaching up and grabbing the batter. She thought I would get along with her mom? Good, I want to meet her mom. Soon, I think.

"Sounds great." I said, spinning on my barstool so I could watch her walk over and get a frying pan.

"Get over here. I'm going to teach you." She ordered, beckoning me with her finger. I obliged, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind and resting my chin on her shoulder.

"Okay, teach me then." She showed me how to do it, dripping the batter into the pan and laughing at me when I accidentally poured way too much batter into the pan.

"So, you're no good at cooking." She said conversationally as she tried to save my hopeless pancake. "What are you good at?"

I thought about it for a minute or two before I answered. "Video games. I evidently can't make a pancake to save my life, but I can kick your ass in Mario Kart." I admitted.

"Really?" She asked, drawing out the vowels and raising her eyebrow. "Well, I'm pretty good too, I guess I'm just going to have to put you in your place some time." She said.

I smirked at her confidence. "Never gonna happen, Gallagher Girl."

"Sure it won't Rachel Ray." I hopped off my barstool again so I could tickle her sides.

"What did you just call me?" I asked as she giggled and tried to wriggle her way out of my grasp.

"Zach!" She screeched. I put the palm of my hand over her mouth and her laughs became muffled.

I shushed her, pointing upstairs and reminding her that our friends were sleeping just a few steps away. It would kind of ruin the mood if McHenry came downstairs screaming at us for interrupting her beauty sleep. Her eyes widened and she silenced immediately. We waited for the telltale stomping sounds of someone waking up, but there were none.

"Phew. That was close." She breathed in a whisper.

"Yeah. Loudmouth." I accused with a grin.

"Hey! It's your fault for tickling me." She defended herself.

"Hm, maybe." I conceded, putting my hands to her cheeks and bringing her lips to mine.

I will never get tired of doing that. Her lips are so soft. Everything about her is so _soft_.

"Mhmm, the pancakes are going to burn…" She mumbled onto my lips.

I was about to tell her to screw the pancakes when she pulled away reluctantly with a wide grin and red lips, walking back over to the frying pan. I pulled us out some plates and she unloaded both of our pancakes onto them.

"There was no syrup, but here's some honey." I said, putting the substitute syrup onto the table.

I smiled at her and took a bite. Needless to say, it was amazing. "Zach?" Cammie asked me in a small voice.

My brow furrowed and I put my fork down at her suddenly serious tone. "Yeah?" I asked, wondering if I should be worried about anything.

"What's going to happen to us when we get back to DC?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"I mean _us_. We're going to be in different cities, right? We aren't going to see each other."

"Of course we're going to see each other! Just because you might be relocated to Boston, and I might be relocated to Baltimore; that doesn't mean we won't see each other. We can go out to see one another all the time." I promised.

She pushed her pancake around with her fork. "But that… living in different cities… I just feel like that kind of thing never _works_ in real life, you know? It's just a fairytale."

I studied her intently. "You're really worried about this, aren't you?" I asked.

"Yeah," She admitted with a shrug.

Well that's it then. I'm just going to have to fix it for her.

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><p><strong>AN: Zammie fluff, as requested. Also, I put a poll up on my page concerning when I should end this story. I figured I would let the public decide, haha. Thank you for all the reviews! Not only did I break 300, I broke 325! Talk about going above and beyond, people :) Okay, well thanks again to all you readers. Please vote and review!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Cammie POV

I am _exhausted_. Apparently, not sleeping and eating sugary pancakes in the middle of the night does not do good things for you in the morning. Still, I refused to let my eyes drift close, attempting to salvage every last second I had with Zach on the plane.

He seemed significantly _less_ worried, having basically passed out on my shoulder the second we sat in our seats. He slept so soundly, though I'm not sure how. There was a screaming baby three seats in front of us. Ah, how I miss those days when the government paid for our rushed flights to France.

Zach had been annoyingly mysterious all morning. At first, I thought it was just because of last night and the secrecy of it all. I mean, that was definitely the reason he gave me that little half-smirk, half-smile when Grant asked us why all the pancake batter was gone this morning. But then he goes all "Zach" with the "I-know-something-you-don't" aura he's basically been flaunting around all day.

I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid or something… but there definitely seems to be more smirking than usual. In fact, as I glance over at him right now, I notice that… yup, he's smirking in his sleep. How does he _do_ that? Maybe it's some sort of medical condition? I would look it up on my phone, but Langley gave us such cheap tickets back that we don't even have Wi-Fi.

There's a ding overhead and the captain announces that we'll be landing soon. My heart pangs as I imagine a little timer slowly ticking away the time I have left with Zach. I shake him awake gently. "Zach… wake up, Zach." I whisper to him.

"Hm, no thanks…" He groans quietly, and I can tell he was just as affected by our late night escapade as I was. But then again, he definitely has gotten more sleep than I have in the past twenty-four hours, so there is no way I'm feeling bad for him. I flick his forehead.

"Ow!" He put a hand to his forehead and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so we're back to that now, are we? Really, I thought we've gotten past this."

"I'm only nice to the Zach I like. The two year old Zach who won't wake up annoys the hell out of me." I admitted, trying very, very hard not to let him see the corners of my mouth twitch with amusement. He was just too darned cute sometimes.

"You're lying. You love _all_ of me. You said it yourself." He whispered into my ear, causing me to shiver and give myself away. He grinned cockily at my reaction.

_Ding._ "Please fasten your seatbelts, we will be landing shortly." Oh, go ahead Captain. Ruin the moment.

I leaned back into my seat again and buckled in. Zach squeezed my hand once as the plane touched the ground again. We met back up with Macey, Liz, Bex, Grant, Jonas, and Nick once we got into the waiting area.

"Never. Again." Macey promised as Nick doubled over in laughter.

"What happened?" I asked when we got closer, curious.

She threw her hands up in the air. "I hate second-class flying! I had to sit next to some mother and her baby and I swear to god, the thing did not stop crying the _entire_ time."

Oh. So that's who was sitting next to that baby. "Yeah, I heard it. It was pretty annoying."

"I wanted to tell the mother to give the poor thing a bottle or something! Ugh, I need some Advil." She complained, while hitting Nick on the head for laughing.

"Well you can take on _after_ we meet with the director, because we're going to be late." Bex said, taking a look at her watch. We still have to go through customs, security, locate our bags, and track down enough taxis for all of us. How did we ever do this before? Man, I feel spoiled.

It took us another three hours to do all that- an entire full hour spent just on finding one of Macey's bags. It was lost on the flight. She was livid. The worst part? She couldn't even give the guy at the desk an address that the bag could be sent to if they ever find it, because she didn't actually know where she would be living for the next few months. Sometimes being a spy kind of sucks.

"Let's just thank god that it wasn't Bex's suitcase. She's the one with all the weapons." Grant tried to console as we all got on our separate taxis to make our way to the headquarters.  
>"Well mine had several thousand dollars worth of clothing in it! At least if we lost the weapons the government would reimburse us!" I had a feeling that this was all we would be hearing about for the remainder of… oh, say the week. Month, maybe? It's not like we make bucket-loads of money. A few grand isn't considered pocket change.<p>

"Jesus, do you know what clothes she had in there?" Zach asked as we sat down in the car, rubbing his forehead.

"Um, yeah. It was a _lot_ of stuff." I said, nodding. She also kept a chart of everything that was kept in each specific suitcase, just to make sure she had everything when she packed it back up.

"So if I give you the money, can you go and buy everything back for her?" He asked.

"Zach! You can't do that, it's way too much money." I protested.

He shrugged. "When my mom disappeared, they left me in charge of the money that she abandoned. I _have_ way too much money. And nothing is too much if it gets McHenry to stop talking." I kissed his cheek.

"Who knew Zach Goode secretly has a sweet side?" I whispered in his ear.

"I don't!"

I grinned. "You do."

He shook his head adamantly and I let the topic drop, keeping a small smile on my face. We pulled up to the Langley building and I gripped Zach's hand as we walked out of the taxi and he paid the driver.

We waited for the other's to arrive in their separate taxis, then we walked up together, occasionally providing identification to pass through different levels of security. "Come, sit, all of you." The Director said as we entered his office that was larger than most New York apartments.

We obliged, each taking a place in a different chair. "According to your mission file that you submitted a day or two ago, the mission was a success, yes?"

"Yes, sir." We all replied in unison. This was how these things usually worked. They were typically about three minutes long. He asks us if the mission was a success, tells us we're being reassigned to another city, then we go somewhere else in the building to be separately debriefed for several hours.

"Alright, then I'll have Stevenson give you new jobs and cities. You are dismissed." And with those words, Zach was hundreds of miles away.

"Sir, I have a request." Zach said, standing up in his chair. Oh, no. He wasn't going to request being stationed in the same city, was he? Relationships between agents were typically… frowned upon, unless the agents were married. A "request" would raise eyebrows, and questions.

The Director barely even looked up from his file. "Go ahead,"

"I would like permission to pursue a lead on the French terrorist group found in California."

We all stared at him like he grew another head. Lead? What lead? Why weren't we told about this lead? What the heck was he doing?

The Director looked up from the file and raised an eyebrow. "Why wasn't this lead in the file?"

Zach shrugged. "There was no solid fact to put in the file, Sir. Just a hunch. I didn't think it would hurt to do some surveillance in California to see if it went anywhere."

The Director nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "Uh, huh. And you wouldn't by any chance be needing assistance from another agent on this 'surveillance' of yours, would you?" He asked skeptically, looking each of the girls in the eye, save Liz.

"No Sir." He surprised all of us by saying.

"No?" The Director asked, equally confused.

"I am perfectly capable of doing it myself, Sir." It was like watching a complicated game of tennis. The back and forth was almost too quick to follow along.

"Is this true? This surveillance lead?" The Director questioned us. We all just shrugged, unsure of what to say. Maybe it did exist. I doubt it would be the first time Zach had hid something from all of us.

The Director sighed and took off his reading glasses. "Agent Goode, confidence is a wonderful thing, but when it borders on _arrogance_, well then, it is a trait that can easily get one killed in this business. I suggest you pick a partner for this surveillance mission of yours." Zach scowled and eyed us all over critically.

"Sir, I really don't need-" The Director held his hand up.

"That's enough. I gave you a choice, but I see now that I will have to choose for you. Miss Morgan, you will be accompanying Zach to California. Keep him in line. You are all dismissed." I nodded, astonished. If it wasn't for the small smirk he held as we all walked out, I wouldn't have known.

"You planned that!" I whispered as we walked through the hallways to go get debriefed.

His smirk widened. "Yes, Gallagher Girl. I planned that."

"And… and the surveillance?" I questioned.

"Doesn't exist."

So he lied to the Director of the CIA… just to make me happy. "Thank you." I whispered to him.

"Don't worry, you can _thank_ me later." He said suggestively as we were all lead down different hallways. I let a small smile grace my face… because there _will_ be a later. I don't have to say goodbye just yet.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, I will not be ending it by popular demand. Just so you know, as soon as I end this story, I will have a different one going up. Not a sequel though! Sorry, but I just find that fanfic sequels never live up to the original story. Sorry about the late update, by the way… I had three essays due in one week! Stupid history… Anyway, review? Please?**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Zach POV

And there you have it folks. I do Goode work. Fooling the director is a piece of cake- I've done it too many times to count now. Insert evil laughter here.

The best part? Cammie thinks she owes me big time- she thinks I've done this solely for her benefit. In reality, my actions were purely selfish. I want her around just as much as she wants me around- if not more.

I pulled on my leather jacket as I exited the debriefing room, flipping over the paper that held my cover until the next mission.

_Agent Zachery Goode, Los Angeles California, Physical Education Teacher_

Seriously? A teacher? That's what the masterminds that work for our government came up with? A teacher. Well, it could be worse I guess… maybe.

I ran into Cammie on the way out, too preoccupied with staring at my cover information. "Oh! Sor- oh, wait it's just you." She exclaimed, looking flustered.

I smirked at her. "Just me Gallagher Girl? You really know how to make a guy feel special, you know that?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, Zach." She kissed me quickly on the cheek, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit cheated. So I, you know, kind of wrapped my arms back around her and gently tilted her chin back towards me so I could kiss her properly. She giggled and tried to duck out of the kiss and escape from my grasp. I wasn't having any of that.

"Nu-uh, you still owe me one sweetheart." I reminded her, trapping her with my arms.

"So what, you're going to make me your sex slave?" She teased.

Actually, not a half-bad idea. "I don't know… maybe more like sex indentured servant. Slavery implies that you don't want to be… and let's be honest…" I trailed off suggestively, smirking and winking at her.

She smirked right back, but even she couldn't hide the slight blush that grew up her cheeks. "How about we keep the public affection on the down low for now… you know, at least in the _Langley_ Building right after you _lied_ to the director and made him believe that we are not dating, hm?" Oh, right. Yeah… my bad.

"What can I say; I just can't keep my hands off of you." I said, releasing her.

And then I was attacked. By Nick and Grant, to be exact. "Dude! What the hell was that? Leads? California?" Nick hissed as McHenry and Bex seemed to be doing the same exact thing to Cammie.

I rolled my eyes. "There are no leads. Chill out."

A look seemed to dawn on Nick's face and he grew a devious look, one that scarily resembled McHenry's. "You did it so you could stay with Cammie." He whispered accusingly.

I tried to feign nonchalance, shrugging my shoulders indifferently. "I mean, no… That's not why. I just… wanted to stay in LA for a while." They weren't buying it.

"That's bull and we both know it." Grant said. "Just be nice to Cammie… she's not like your other conquests, okay?"

"You don't think I know that! I'm not going to hurt her."

Grant shook his head. "No, I know you man. You screw with people. It's what you do. You can't pull that crap with her." He warned.

"I wouldn't do that to Cammie."

"Do what to me?" Cammie said, curiously, coming up from behind Grant.

"Oh, nothing. Grant just suggested that Zach show you pictures of him as a baby." Nick said before I could come up with a quick excuse.

"Aww, baby Zach? I'm sure you were just a little terror." Cammie cooed as everyone else cracked up at my expense.

"Alright, alright. We got it. Nick is hilarious. Moving on." I said, only somewhat bitterly.

"What are your covers?" Bex asked.

"Ugh, I'm a bartender. I can't tell you how many times I've been reassigned to that. Boring." McHenry sang.

"But you forgot to tell them the best part." Nick said.

"Oh yeah. And to top it all off, I have to work with this idiot. We've been assigned to the same casino." She responded with a dry voice. Well lucky them. They didn't even have to create fake information to be stationed in the same city.

"Well my British Bombshell and I are going on another mission already. I got put in charge, and I get to choose one female agent to accompany me… so…" Grant said. Grant is in charge of a mission? Lord, help us all. "What about you, Zachy? What are you and Cammie up to?"

"I'm a gym teacher." I barely got the words out before everyone started laughing at me. Great friends.

"Oh my god! Zach and _children_? That's a recipe for disaster right there." Bex said, unable to contain herself. "I feel so bad for those kids!"

"Well mine is better than any of yours!" Cammie exclaimed, holding up her file triumphantly. "I'm the receptionist for a music industry." She said with a grin on her face. "I'm going to be meeting bands and stuff all day." Her grin widened even more, if that was possible.

There was a whole chorus of 'no fair'. I have to admit, I was a little jealous.

"I expect some autographs, Gallagher Girl." I told her after we had all said our goodbyes and gone our separate ways.

"Autographs! Would that be in _addition_ to my eternal future as your servant?" She asked, sliding into the taxi cab seat next to me.

"No, that would be one of the expected duties of your servitude." She was joking, I could tell… but I was pretty serious about it. Cam had no idea what was coming to her.

"Come on sweetheart. We've got a flight to LA in about four hours. Get some sleep, yeah? I know you didn't sleep at all last night." I leaned over to kiss her on the forehead as she rested her head on my shoulder, in the perfectly-Cammie-shaped spot in the crook of my neck.

"I couldn't… too worried." She punctuated this with a yawn. "You know, my insomnia could have been easily remedied if _someone_ had just told me their ingenious little plan to solve all my problems." She teased bitterly.

I hid my smile in her hair. "Is my servant sassing me? I really don't think she wants to be doing that."

"Your servant is rebelling…" She mumbled almost incoherently before finally drifting off.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeahhh… not a whole lot happening this chapter. I have a couple ideas for one or two chapters after this, but then… nothin. Anything you guys would like to see, in particular? And what POV do you prefer? Thanks for the reviews and favorites and stuff! Love you guys :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Important announcement at the end!**

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><p><span>Chapter 26<span>

Zach POV

Okay. I can do this. I almost single-handedly brought down a prominent terrorist group when I was only sixteen. I've successfully completed missions in 16 different countries. I graduated top of my class from _Blackthorne_ for god's sake- I can do this.

They're just kids.

Who am I kidding? I can't do this. I know virtually _nothing_ about children. I don't even remember being a kid. I think I just went straight to the teenager part.

Truth is, I've been freaking out ever since Cammie sarcastically wished me a "Good luck at school today Mr. Goode" this morning.

I flipped through the class agenda I was given by the principle for the third time since I entered my "office". I internally scoffed at the word. _Office_… More like glorified closet.

The bell rang and not even a minute later I heard the distinct screaming of children, signifying the entrance of my first class. I gave myself one last quick inner pep-talk before walking out to the school gym. In front of me stood about a dozen or so 6 year olds.

"Alright," I said, clapping my hands once to get their attention. They all stopped their conversations and turned to me with wide eyes. "I'm Mr. Goode, I'm your new gym teacher… um, welcome." God, I'm so bad at this. The entire class had a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look to them.

"Why don't you all go around and introduce yourselves?" I suggested, internally cringing at my awkwardness.

A little boy pushed his way forward through the pint-sized crowd. "I'm Thomas." He announced proudly. "Are we gonna play now? Our other teacher let us play." There was a chorus of agreement and I could already tell this little kid was going to be the troublemaker of the group.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, um, alright. Just… do whatever you kids usually do. Do you play dodge ball?" I asked, remembering a distinct portion of my childhood involving those red rubber balls.

They all cheered and begun chattering happily. I grinned. Hey, maybe I can do this after all. "Cool." I said, pulling a cart of balls out of a closet and passing them out to each student. "Split up into teams… and try not to kill each other."

"Boys against girls! Let's do boys against girls!" Thomas yelled.

"Yeah, okay." I agreed, sitting down in my chair and surreptitiously texting Cammie, who was still at the apartment we were sharing. Her job didn't start for another week.

"Awesome! Thanks Mr. Goode, you're the coolest!"

_The kids love me, oh ye of little faith. _I texted her, smirking to myself. This is gonna be a piece of cake.

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

My phone buzzed and I read Zach's flirtatious text message. I grinned to myself. Things were going great with Zach. Too great. It was making me nervous- I was afraid something was going to screw it up. Whether it was me, him, the CIA, or an uncontrollable outside force… there was no way the universe could ever allow two people to be as happy as we were for very long. Call me superstitious, but in my experience, that was the way the world worked. The good was always balanced out by the bad.

I pushed the negative thoughts out of my brain and responded to his text. _Aw. Well we all knew you were a 6 year old trapped in a 22 year old's body anyway._

My phone rang and I answered it then without looking, assuming it would be Zach. "You miss me already Zachy-poo?" I cooed in a baby voice, mocking him.

"Is that how you usually answer the phone?" Whoops. _Not_ Zach.

"Uh, sorry Macey. Thought you were someone else."

"Obviously… _Cammie-poo_." She teased.

I groaned. "Did you have something to tell me?"

"Um, yeah. It's important… are you sitting down?" This doesn't sound good. I took a seat, as per her recommendation.

"I am now. Continue." I said, preparing myself for the worst.

She coughed nervously. Macey is never nervous. It must be big. "Well… you know how Nick and I are working together at the Casino, right?"

"Yeah…" I said as my brain tried to connect her nervousness to this reminder. "Oh Macey! You haven't pissed him off already, have you? Did you guys break up or something?" I asked sympathetically.

She laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, right! I wish." It's worse than them breaking up? Oh, this must be bad. "Now stop interrupting." She commanded.

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, well. Last night, our jerk of a floor manager told us that we had to clean the place up last night since we were the 'new meat' and all that crap. So Nick goes 'Hey let's make this fun' and we start doing shots, you know?"

"Wait! Is this like the plot of 'The Hangover' and you guys got drunk and you lost Nick?" I said, going back on my previous promise to keep my mouth shut. I just couldn't help it. It was like a trivia game… _What Has Macey Gotten Herself Into This Time?_ I should patent that.

"Agh! No, Cammie! Be quiet, it's not easy for me to say this out loud, okay?" There was yet another long pause. "So we're cleaning the place up, we're kind of hammered. It's like 3 am at this point, but it's Vegas, you know, so the whole place is hopping. And… that's about as much as I remember."

_That _was her story? She and Nick got drunk in Vegas, the end? Geez, big deal. People get drunk in Vegas all the time. I was about to voice my opinion when I realized the story wasn't quite over yet.

"Then I woke up this morning next to Nick in a hotel room… He was still asleep. But…" She took another deep breath. "But I had some new jewelry."

This is when my naivety began acting up, limiting my imagination. "You mean he bought you a necklace or something?" Maybe it was just a really expensive necklace, and that's why she was so worried.

She groaned, sounding both frustrated and on edge with frayed nerves. "No Cammie!" She gulped audibly.

"Nick and I… we got hitched."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay. Important message is: after this story is over (in a few more chapters) I'm starting a new story! I can't just have you guys thinking I'm going to abandon you. It's not a sequel, though, sorry 'bout that. I wanted to give you faithful readers a quick summary, just so you can look out for it: **

Morgan, Cameron- Renowned Actress. Current Status: Unlucky bank robbery hostage

Goode, Zachery- Nine-to-Five FBI Agent. Current Status: Cammie's last hope

**It's called "Hostage Situation". Think "Die Hard" but with romance. Alright, end important message. Anyway, did you like this chapter? I had to get it out before the Ravens played today. Gotta love them Ravens. As always, thanks for all your support, and please review :) **


	27. Chapter 27

**This chapter is dedicated to ****zoehumi and her friend :)**

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><p><span>Chapter 27<span>

Cammie POV

"_Married?_ You got…_married_?" I repeated as her words finally clicked in my brain. Macey and Nick… _Married_. Oh my god.

"Yes! God, stop saying it like that. We tied the knot, we didn't bomb a third world country, okay? I mean, it's not that big of a deal, right? This kind of stuff is common in Vegas… _right_?" It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince me.

I heard the uncommon desperation and panic in her voice and made a spur-of-the-moment decision. "Macey, where are you right now?" I asked, holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I ran around the apartment, grabbing my purse and keys before rushing out the door. I scribbled a quick note for Zach and left it on the kitchen counter, telling him that I had left. I hoped he would see it.

She groaned. "It was too much; I couldn't deal with it Cam! I left the hotel before Nick woke up. Ugh, this is such a mess." She said hopelessly, not answering my question.

"Yes, but where _are_ you?" I asked yet again as I put the keys into the ignition of one of Zach's many sports cars. "I'm coming to find you." I informed her.

"At the Starbucks on South Boulevard right next to Caesar's," She blurted quickly upon learning my intentions. For as long as I've known Macey, she's never been one to voluntarily admit that she needs help , but Bex, Liz and I can always tell when she could use some guidance. And right now my best friend is about as lost as a fish in the desert.

"Come and pick me up from the airport in about an hour or so, okay?" I informed her. Thank god for frequent flier miles.

* * *

><p><span>Macey POV<span>

I couldn't tell if it was the caffeine or the nerves, but I could not stop tapping my foot. It didn't help that the coffee shop was playing upbeat dance music either. Which is weird, when you think about it. I mean, this is a Starbucks in Vegas on a Monday morning- it's practically a breeding ground for people with hangovers. And it's not a good thing when your customer's heads are pounding to the same beat as the bass in your background music.

"Hey," I said, walking over to the bored looking cashier and rapping my knuckles on the table twice to get her attention. Yeah, probably not the most polite thing I've ever done but hey- it's been a tough morning.

The girl jumped a little bit and looked at me fearfully. Oh come on, I'm not _that_ scary. For her sake, I tried to put on my nice face. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Hey…_Meg_." I said, reading off her nametag. "I hope this isn't asking too much, but could you maybe turn the music down a little bit? I have a splitting headache." It was meant to come out sounding like a kind request, but my foul mood twisted my words until it ended up sounding slightly more bitter and condescending. Oh well, A for effort.

"Sorry, can't. Manager's rules." She snapped. Looks like I misjudged the girl. I wasn't one to give up quite that easily, but a glance at my watch confirmed that if I wanted to be on time to get Cammie, I would have to leave now anyway. I shot the unaccommodating employee a biting glare before strutting out the door.

As I drove to the airport to pick up my friend I couldn't help but glance down again at the diamond on my left ring finger. It mocked me by glinting in the sun and creating rainbows on the dashboard, calling me a coward. I _was_ a coward. I left Nick all alone in that hotel room… He probably hates me now. I hate me.

I'm just… I'm terrified. And I'm a Gallagher Girl- I don't fear anything… except for marrying my boyfriend. Hell, I don't even know if I can call him that. The only time he's ever said it out loud was on that date in Paris when he was defending me against my ex.

And I have first-hand experience with how screwed up marriage is. My parents loved each other just about as much as the CIA loves terrorists. You could almost feel the air turn cold, polite, and unattached when they were both in the room together.

That's my reasoning to the promise I made to myself when I was only eight years old. I pledged that if this was what marriage was like, then I wanted no part of it.

My phone dinged and pulled me out of my inner musings. _Meet me at Gate 18 –Cam. _ Her text directed me right as I was pulling into the maze that was the Las Vegas Airport.

I pulled into what was hopefully the right gate and unlocked my car, hoping she would be able to recognize my bright red paint job. Only minutes later I saw her dirty blonde waves navigating her way through the crowd of people. She hopped right into the passenger's side and we looked at one another for a minute without saying anything.

Finally, she pulled me in for a much needed hug. It was a little awkward with my seatbelt on and the impatient drivers behind me honking their horns rudely, but it was comforting none the less. "You okay?" She whispered when we parted.

I nodded mutely, overcome with emotion. I think it was ultimately her compassion that made me realize just how upset I was. I felt tears sting my eyes for the first time since I can remember. I _never_ cry. "Here," I said, trying to still sound strong but failing as my voice cracked miserably. I swallowed and tried again. "You drive." I unbuckled and switched seats with her.

Cammie sat down in the seat and begun driving away. She glanced at my pitiful figure out of the corner of her eye and grabbed my hand. "It's gonna be okay Mace. We'll work it out. I'm here for you." She whispered.

I took another shaky breath and concentrated on our intertwined fingers. At this moment, I've never been more thankful for my sister.

* * *

><p><span>Zach POV<span>

I took a detour on my way back to the apartment. It was only three thirty; Cammie wouldn't be suspicious if I was only half an hour late or so. I can always blame it on traffic anyway.

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I just haven't quite gotten around to it. My hands clenched tightly around the wheel with nerves. I start second-guessing myself, wondering if I'm doing the right thing.

_No_. I think, stomping the negative thoughts out of my head. _I'm doing this_. _What's the worst that can happen, anyway?_

I've been putting this off for too long anyway. I pull my car into the parking lot. On the outside, the building looks perfectly normal- not a hint of intimidating anywhere. However, on the inside it's much different. On the inside, it's man's worst nightmare.

I stand up straight and enter through the glass doors with a smug confidence I should probably have trademarked by now. Said confidence is blown away the second I step foot in the place. It's _huge_. How the hell did I think I was going to be able to do this?

I walk cautiously up to one of the counters and look around, ignoring the bustling of people all around me. I cannot find what I was looking for. "Can I help you Sir?" An older, well-dressed woman asks me politely.

I clear my throat. "Yes, I'm…" Just say it Zach. Don't be such a pansy. "I'm looking for an engagement ring… for my Ca- for my girlfriend."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Right. Well. Now that that's over with… Just so you know, these next couple chapters are going to have a lot of jumping around when it comes to POV. It'll mainly be Cammie, Zach, and Macey, but I might put some Nick in there as well. Did you like this chapter? Macey is fun to write… but Zach is funner. Review please! Love you guys :)**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Macey POV

"You have to go back." Cammie told me, sympathetic yet stern.

"Go back to where?" I asked, confused as to what she was referring. Now that I had gotten over my initial reaction that was littered with emotion, I was trying to approach this situation from a more level-headed, unattached standpoint. It seemed to be working out fine so far.

"The _hotel_, Macey." She said, as if the answer were obvious.

"What!" I repeated a bit loudly at her ludicrous suggestion, sounding like a broken record. "Like _hell_ I'm going back there! The next time I see Nick, it'll be with divorce papers and a red pen." I said, rolling my eyes.

She just looked at me disapprovingly. "_No_," She contradicted in a reprimanding voice. "The next time you see Nick, it'll be with an open mind and an apology."

"What do I have to apologize for? I didn't do anything wrong." I reminded her, annoyed by her logic.

"Macey, think about this for a second. If _you_ woke up in that hotel room, Nick was gone, and you had a ring on your finger, how would you feel?" She questioned reasonably.

I grimaced. Pissed. I would be very, very pissed. "Exactly." Cammie said, reading my strained expression as valid proof to support her point.

I bit my lip, mulling it over. "Are you going to come with me?" I asked, not wanting to sound like I was afraid, but also not sure how to ask that of her.

She shook her head. "No. I'll wait for you here. You can call me if you need to. Go now, otherwise he'll be gone by the time you get there."

I was disappointed, but I knew she was right. This was something I had to do on my own.

* * *

><p><span>Zach POV<span>

"I'll take it."

"Excellent choice sir! You have magnificent taste, really. She'll love it." The salesperson complimented me again. She had practically lit up when I told her I didn't really have a budget in mind for the ring. I must have seen every ring in the store. They were all nice, but none of them were… _Cammie_.

Finally, she showed me a platinum ring with a solitaire cut diamond. I almost sighed with relief. It was Cammie's ring, for sure. Not gonna lie though, I had a minor heart-attack when she told me the price.

I paid without complaint though. Cammie was worth it, and I haven't had a problem with money since I turned 18 and I got my mother's inheritance. I didn't want it at first- I didn't want anything from my mother. However, it legally belonged to me, so I opened up a bank account and it just sat there for a few years until I got over my pride and admitted that it was useful.

After I signed paperwork and finally got the small leather box that held my possible future, I was able to leave the godforsaken jewelry store. My mind was racing all over the place on the drive home. I was caught between thinking of how I was going to ask her, to what I was going to do if she said no. I really hope she doesn't. I'm willing to wait… but I'd really prefer not to.

I was _so_ distracted in fact, that I didn't notice that I was being carefully and professionally tailed by a small black Acura until about three blocks from the apartment. Unsure of what to do, I took a sharp turn, away from the street that our apartment complex was on. If one thing was for sure, it was that I didn't want Cammie messed up in this. Thankfully, I had driven the sports-car today, and that would make it a lot easier to lose the car.

The person following me knew I had caught on now, and was making no effort to hide the fact that they were following me. The Acura had obviously had some work done on it, because it was keeping up easily with my 450 horsepower.

It was then I decided I might have to call Cammie.

* * *

><p><span>Macey POV<span>

As I drove closer and closer to the hotel, I started to regret telling Cammie not to come with me. My breathing became erratic as I became more nervous, and I pulled over about a block from the hotel and parked on the side of the road. I took a calming breath. And then another.

My phone rang and I rolled my eyes in frustration before answering it, not looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" I asked, holding the phone to my ear.

"Where the _hell_ are you?" The gravely, angry voice of Nick practically growled in my ear.

Taken aback by his tone of voice, I replied on instinct. "_Excuse _me?" I asked, getting out of the car and slamming the door.

"You _heard_ me Macey. Where _are_ you?" No one had ever talked to me like this before. He was furious, that much I could tell. It took all the strength I had not to hang up on him then and there.

"Don't talk to me like that asshole." I hissed into the phone while stomping down the sidewalk, my stilettos clicking violently. "You have no right-"

"No right?" He exclaimed into the phone, a bitter amusement dancing in his voice. "Don't give me that bullshit! Do you want to know why I have the _right_?" He asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. He didn't give me a chance to reply, just kept on talking without taking a break. "I have the goddamn _right_ because I woke up this morning with an empty bed, a ring on my finger, and a marriage certificate sitting on the nightstand. Do you want to explain that one to me _princess_?" He asked, the term of endearment laced with resentment.

Without realizing it, I had stormed down the block, right in front of the hotel. I stood, looking up at building. Nick's soliloquy had fallen silent in my ears and I made a decision. Steaming with anger and even a little bit of hurt, I pushed through the glass revolving door and snapped my phone shut without another word.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A couple of you asked for a little action, so here you go. I hope you guys like this chapter. Any guesses on who's following Zach? Please review :)**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Zach POV

The Bluetooth in my ear rang echoingly for the third time, and I silently pleaded in my head for Cammie to pick up the goddamn phone. I counted the rings… two more, then the automated answering machine picked up. Overcome with anger, I ripped the blue tooth out of my ear and beamed it at the windshield. It hit the glass and broke into two pieces, resting on the dashboard pitifully.

I banged my closed fists once on the steering wheel, trying to get rid of some of my anger. Taking another sharp turn, I glanced in my rearview mirror, not surprised to see that the Acura was still behind me. Great, just great.

I was being followed, and now Cammie wasn't answering the phone in the apartment. A thousand different possibilities were running through my mind at once. Maybe they've taken her? Maybe they have her right now, and they're in the apartment torturing her for answers? Or worse, maybe she's dead? My heartbeat sped up and the adrenaline pumped through my veins in overtime.

…Or, maybe she's just in the shower and can't hear the phone. Yeah, that's it. She just went out- she went to the grocery store or something. Stop worrying right now. Calm the hell down, focus on losing this car, _then_ focus on getting in touch with Cam.

"Screw this." I muttered under my breath, slamming down on the breaks and keeping a tight grip on the steering wheel so that the car was forced sideways, gliding unnaturally on its four wheels. My red, ostentatious Maserati took up the whole deserted street, drifting vertically with the smell of burning rubber permeating the air.

Seconds later, the Acura crashed into the passenger side of the car, my airbags exploding on cue. My car was totaled on one side. I pushed the airbag down with my arm, grabbing my handgun from the glove compartment and opening my door with ease, climbing out from the crash scene. I focused on loading my gun while I walked with my back turned.

I knew that the driver of the car was still alive- anyone with that much work done on the engine of their car had plenty of crash safety added to it too. With my back still turned and my hands toying with the familiar feel of my weapon, I took it upon myself to give them a warning. "You know, I would probably get out of the car if I were you." I yelled, reaching a pole connected to the power-lines and leaning back against it with one shoulder, finally looking in their direction. "My car is rigged to explode in about…" I looked at my watch casually.

"Ten seconds."

* * *

><p><span>Macey POV<span>

As the elevator slowly made its ascent up to floor 12, my anger began to dissipate. In its place, came fear. Why in the world did I let Cammie talk me into this? I can't deal with a confrontation right now- I just can't.

In a moment of pure terror, I hit another button on the elevator- any other button, just determined not to reach the 12th floor. I breathed a sigh that was one part guilt and one part relief when the elevator doors slid open at level 10.

I took a step out of the door and collided head on with someone, knocking me to the floor of the elevator. I was ready yell at the person when I looked up and saw who it was.

"Nick?" He was looking down at me- glaring down at me really.

I used the bar on the side of the elevator to pull myself up off the ground. The doors slid back closed and he turned around, hitting the fire button with his closed fist. The lift jerked violently, causing me to grab the railing and re-steady myself on my five-inch heels.

"Nick, what the he-!" He cut me off with an urgent, frantic kiss. His hand weaved into my hair and his arm went around my back, pulling me impossibly closer. The buzzing of the fire safety button, the pain in my feet from my designer heels, the muddled mess that was my brain- it all went away. For that moment, all that mattered was Nick. All that there was was _Nick_.

He released me from his grip and rested his forehead on mine, both of us breathing heavily. "Goddamnit, I _love_ you Macey." He said, punctuating his sentence with a tender kiss on the tip of my nose. "And you're not going anywhere."

* * *

><p><span>Zach POV<span>

Almost as soon as I spoke, a lithe figure dressed from head to toe in black jumped out of the vehicle, making it about fifteen feet away before both of our cars blew sky high. I waited a minute for the explosion to wear off before walking around the car with my gun loaded. My attacker lay on the ground, coughing from smoke inhalation.

I pointed my gun with one hand and hauled them the ground with the other. I slammed their back into the brick wall of a nearby building, the back of my arm across the span of their chest, trapping them while my gun was pointed at their head. "Who are you?" I growled, making it clear that I wasn't playing around. I ripped off their mask and found myself staring into familiar blue eyes.

Blue like Cammie's.

"What the…" I muttered, taking in the sight of the woman before me. She wasn't Cammie, for sure, but they had the same features. Bright blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, etcetera. I lowered my gun without thinking.

"I'm Rachel Morgan." The middle-aged woman informed me with a voice as cold as steel. I stared back at her blankly as the pieces started to click together. That name, I had heard that name before. A long time ago…

No, that's not possible.

"And I'm here to tell you to stay the _hell_ away from my daughter."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Zach's going to be in deep trouble. No one guessed that it was going to be Rachel! And in case you were wondering, Zach knows Rachel from before. Like, before before. We're talking teen years here. Did ya like this chapter? I hope so! Please review :)**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Zach POV

I stumbled back, the words falling on my ears yet not registering in my mind. I was still processing. "You… you…" I stuttered uncharacteristically.

Her eyes were cold and menacing as she stared at me unwaveringly. "So you remember me then?" She said, the disgust and anger barely hidden from her voice.

"_You're_ Rachel Morgan? _You_ are Cammie's mom?" I asked disbelievingly when I finally found my voice. So much for that whole veneer of confidence I had going for a while.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know exactly who I am Zachary _Goode_. You may have managed to fool my daughter, but I know who you are- I know what you've done. You cannot fool me." She said. I was haunted with the knowledge that she was not entirely unjustified or unreasonable in her rage.

"I swear to you Mrs. Morgan, I mean your daughter no harm. I love her. I promise you I love her. I'll- I'll take a lie detector test if you don't believe me!" I got dangerously close to begging as she stalked around me like I was prey.

She regarded me at a distance for a moment before speaking again, this time in a much more calm and collected voice. "You're a smart kid Zach. You always have been. You've always looked out for yourself, above all else. That's why I'm going to let you off with a warning. Stay _away_ from Cameron, if you know what is good for you. Do I make myself clear?" She said, sounding more like the legendary spy I had once worked with from a distance, and less like the enraged protective mother I just saw.

However reasonable her 'warning' might have sounded to an outsider, for me it was impossible. I can't stay away from Cammie. I just can't. "I'm sorry. I don't know if I can." I responded truthfully, feeling weak.

"Well then try." She said, no tone of humor in her voice. She was completely serious. I didn't want to know what the repercussions would be if I ignored her orders. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, starting to pace on the street.

I could not leave Cammie. That was not an option.

I could not challenge the will of Rachel Morgan. That was also not an option.

As the saying goes, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wanted to hit something. I hated both my options and I saw no other way out. "Why can't you just forgive me already!" I yelled, losing my patience and calm. I surprised even myself. I never get angry. "The CIA forgave me! Why can't you?"

Rachel, on the other hand, didn't bat an eye. It was as if she flipped a switch and turned off all form of passionate emotion. "I have forgiven you Zach. That doesn't mean I have to trust you."

Not content with her answer, I challenged it further. "Why not? _They_ trust me. I have a level seven clearance for Christsake! The CIA _trusts_ me."

"_I am not the CIA!_" And just like that, the switch was turned back on and her rage came back in full force. Anger was much more intimidating on her- her anger made my anger look like child's play. She closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath, and spoke again. Her voice was deadly and calculative, one of a seasoned operative. "Make no mistake Zach. This has nothing to do with business. This is completely personal."

This caught my attention. As far as I knew, she had nothing personal to hold against me. I made plenty of life-altering mistakes when I was young, for sure. I paid the price for those mistakes and I continue to every day of my life. But in the end, it all turned out the way it was supposed to. I did what had to be done- what no one else was willing to do. The CIA understood that. Certain individuals, however, did not. Rachel Morgan being one of them.

I always knew that she held me at least partially responsible for how things went down that night, so many years ago. But I never knew it was personal. I could think of only one possible answer.

"You knew him?" I rasped out.

Her eyes turned as cold as steel as I watched. She turned around and began to walk away. "I didn't come here to talk about the past with you Zach. I came here to warn you to tread with care. My work is done. Make the right decision."

I shook my head. "Not good enough. Tell me the truth. Tell me what really happened that night."

She stopped walking. "You know as well as I do everything that happened. You were there."

This time I walked after her, stepping in front of her to block her, keep her from walking away so she wouldn't have to tell me. "Just tell me how you knew him. Was he your partner? Co-worker? Frien-?"

"_Husband_," She whispered, so low that I almost couldn't hear. "The operative you killed was Matthew Morgan. My _husband_."

* * *

><p><span>Zach POV- Age 16, 6 Years Prior<span>

_ I tried to even out my breathing as I walked down the dimly lit corridor. I felt like the cement walls were closing in on me, ready to crush me at any moment. Part of me wishes they would._

_ I shouldn't have been surprised this was coming. Solomon had been training me for this exact moment for months now._

_ The final exam. My mother's last test. The last test before I was to become a fully-fledged member of The Circle… The type of person Mom wanted me to be. The type of son she could really be proud of._

_ A murderer._

_ "It won't come to that." The words of Solomon echoed in my mind as I thought back to our last conversation. He had explained to me what the plan was, in brief. Or, at least, he had explained my part in the whole ordeal._

_ I was to stall. Simple as that. My mother was going to take me to a holding cell in which I would complete my final 'examination'. Except I wouldn't really have to complete it, or so they told me. I would stall my mom for nine minutes, the other agents would swoop in and implement their flawless plan, and The Circle will finally crumble, my mother along with it._

"_The person they give you to…_execute_ will probably be another agent." The nameless blue-eyed woman told me. They were all nameless, except for Solomon of course. They were CIA and I was the prodigal son of a terrorist- of course they didn't entrust me with their names. This woman, however, stood out to me. She seemed, more so than the others, personally invested in the operation. She was also rather close to Solomon._

_After the debriefing, Solomon had pulled me to the side and gave me word of advice- or rather, a warning. "Whatever you do, don't let Cassandra leave that room for nine minutes. _No_ Zach, I'm serious. Do you hear me? Nine. Not a second less. You do _whatever_ you have to do."_

_And now is when all those years of preparation go to work. Now is do or die. The thick metal door slammed closed behind me and my internal clock began._

_Nine minutes left._

_In front of me stood my mother, looking harsh, cold and intimidating- as per usual. Under the cover of the shadows behind her I could vaguely make out a figure shackled to the wall. With horror, I realized what he was for- what purpose he was to serve._

_Eight minutes._

"_Zachary. This is it. This is what you've trained for. You know why you're here." My mother began, pacing back and forth. "Let's get it over with then." She handed me a gun and stopped walking. She was not in the mood to beat around the bush. This was going to be harder than I thought._

_Seven minutes._

"_Well?" She questioned impatiently. "Do it!" I looked into the face of the man. He was covered in dirt and looked slightly underfed. Bruises decorated his skin. He hung his head and I wondered if maybe he was unconscious._

_Six minutes._

"_What are you waiting for!" My mom screamed at me, seeing the hesitation in my face. Just then, the man's eyes opened. They practically glowed in the darkness. Although his body was broken, his spirit was not. That much was clear. I stared back, transfixed._

_Five._

"_I knew it." Mom shook her head, looking at me with disgust. "I knew you weren't strong enough. You've always been weak. I'm giving you one last chance Zach. As my son, I'm giving you another chance. Do it now." She ordered, glaring at me through the dark._

_Four._

_Looking into the eyes of the man, I knew deep within me somewhere that killing him would be infinitely detrimental. All I knew was that if I killed him, something bad would happen. Something very, very bad. I could feel it. "Mom…" I whispered, trying to plead with her._

_Three._

_I heard the slap before I felt it. The force of it was so great that it sent the gun in my hand clattering to the other side of the room. I put a hand to my face in shock. My mother stood towering above me, terrifying in her rage. "Never call me that again." She said, walking towards the door._

_Two._

"_No!" I yelled as her hand hit the knob. Two more minutes left, just two. Two more minutes and I could put this hell behind me. "I'll do it!" I reached across the ground and picked up the gun, standing back up and attempting to square my shoulders. She had not yet walked out, much to my relief. "I'll do it."_

_One._

_I gulped and turned around, pointing the gun in his direction. My entire body shook, but my hands stayed rock steady. The man made eye contact with me. He gave a little nod. I never wanted this. I never wanted this. I never wanted this._

_I pulled the trigger._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Heavy stuff. At least it was to me, as I was writing it. Sorry if this upsets anyone. I was trying my hardest to make sure it wasn't graphic, but there was only so much I could do with a scene like this. To an extent, I've kind of been planning this from the beginning, but I kept debating over whether or not I should include it. However, I decided it was important to show that Zach wasn't the perfect, flawless God that Cammie seems to think he is sometimes. He is a human, he has flaws, he makes mistakes. Try not to be too angry with me. I've been setting the stage for something to impact their relationship for a while, but I wanted it to be something more serious than just a mere misunderstanding. Something important. So what do you think? Should he be forgiven? Or should he be held accountable for his actions? Tell me what your opinion!**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Macey's POV

"Are you sure about this?" Nick asked for about the ninetieth time.

I rolled my eyes, huffing at him in annoyance. "_Yes_, Nick. I'm sure."

_I think_.

After we had used a bit of spy-techniques to climb out of the elevator via the pulley chords, Nick had brought me back up to our hotel room for a rather serious discussion. Were we really ready for _marriage_?

"No, Mace." He said, pushing the pages of signed marriage certificates off his lap and crawling across the bed over to me. He cradled my face in his hands and forced me to look him in the eye. "I'm serious about this. This is… this is _marriage_ Macey. I want you to be my _wife_. Forever, every day, every hour, every _second_." He kissed my nose gently. "_Forever_, princess." He pulled back and studied my eyes as if he were searching for something. "Can you handle that?"

I looked into his eyes, feeling timid. I realized that I couldn't lie to Nick, he wouldn't believe me. He saw right through that. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the truth. "My parents…" I started off, unsure of how to begin this baring of the soul. "Well, I mean, you know my Dad was a politician, right."

He smirked. "You mean former Vice President McHenry? Yeah, I think I've heard that somewhere before." He said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be an ass, I'm trying to tell you something."

"Okay." He said, wiping the smirk off his face and pulling me closer. "I'll try."

"Where was I again?" I asked, distracted by the fact that I was now sitting practically in his lap.

"You were talking about your politician father." He reminded me with a surprising lack of teasing.

"Right. Well, my father came from an extremely high-profile family. It wasn't some dumb little Cinderella story where he grew up from nothing. He went to Yale undergraduate and then Harvard Law and graduated top of his class. Straight out of law school he went into politics. Then he hit thirty and appearances had to be kept up. So he married my mother, an accomplished and independently wealthy woman in her own right. It was an arranged marriage in every sense of the word. And then _I _happened, and I grew up in this… this…" I choked, getting to the point in my story where my unresolved ghosts had risen back up to the surface.

Nick shushed me and rubbed my back as I tried my hardest to fight back tears. "It's okay Macey. Shh, it's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want."

I shook my head adamantly. "No, no. I have to tell you."

"They- they hated each other. But not… but not even passionate hate." I whispered, caught up in my memories. "Everything about them was so cold… distant. Even towards me. I think… I think they resented me. They resented me because they never loved each other and I was just a reminder of their sham of a marriage. The only time we ever had 'family moments' was when there was a camera for some news station shoved in our faces. Then they were all hugs and smiles.

"After a while I couldn't take it anymore. I started acting out, purposefully getting kicked out of school. Then I just became another headline… '_Macey- Senator McHenry's Rebellious Teen Daughter. How Can He Run a Country if He Can't Even Discipline His Own Daughter?_'" I recalled with bitterness.

Nick looked down at me thoughtfully, sadly. "So when you think marriage…" He trailed off.

"I think of my parents." I finished for him.

He grabbed both of my hands and clasped his own around them, kissing inside of both of my wrists before talking. "Macey McHenry. I would go to the ends of the earth for you. I want to be with you forever, and I don't need some stupid little paper to tell me that. If you don't want to get married, then I'm fine with us never getting married. But if you're worried about our marriage being _dispassionate_, then you really are crazy. You are the most passionate, insane, spontaneous, annoying, wonderful, amazing, beautiful girl I know and I can't imagine a life with you ever being cold or unemotional. We will fight and yell and scream at each other because you are a stubborn little hellfire and I do not put up with your crap. But even when we're in the middle of a fight and we've called each other every name possible, if you ask me if I love you… I will always say yes. _Always_."

I took one of my hands out of Nick's grasp to wipe a tear off of my face. My voice was hoarse when I tried to speak. "Nick… Please marry me. I want to be married to you! I _love_ you." I exclaimed, just realizing how much I needed him. I threw my arms around his neck and laughed at how crazy I probably sounded and looked right now.

He smirked, kissing my lips once before leaning back. "Gee I don't know Princess… That's a pretty big commitment."

I hit him playfully on the arm and shot out of the bed, already thinking of color schemes and flower arrangements. "I need a big ceremony though… and a dress! Oh, and new shoes… and all the bridesmaids dresses… and you'll need a tux too."

He was laughing at me, but I didn't care. I was finally happy.

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

I waited three hours for Macey, and when she didn't come back to the coffee shop I took that as a good sign and went back to her car. I took my phone off the dashboard so I could call a cab to get back to the airport when I saw that I had twelve missed messages from Zach.

Guess he never saw my note. I dialed him back, leaning on the side of the car, hoping I hadn't worried him too much.

"Cammie! Where are you? Are you okay? You haven't answered my called? Did someone tell you? Please, just let me explain-"

"Explain what? Sorry, I had to fly out to Vegas- Macey drama. I guess you didn't see my note." I said, interrupting his rushed ramble.

"Note?' He echoed.

"Yeah, I left a note on the kitchen counter before I left. Boy, do I have a crazy story for you." I laughed.

"Yeah…" Zach said, still sounding a bit out of it. "I- I have something to tell you too." He stated, monotone.

I snorted. "I bet my story is better than yours…" I teased in a sing-song voice.

"I highly doubt that." He mumbled.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, sensing that his mood was off.

"Nothing!" He exclaimed, getting defensive. "Just- Just get home as soon as you can, alright? I love you." He breathed, hanging up before I could even say it back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry this is so late guys, exams blegh. I know this probably wasn't the chapter you wanted, but I needed to resolve some of the Macey subplot before I delved deeper into the "Zach is a murderer" subplot. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon, as many of you kind, kind souls have given me ideas and inspiration as to the ending of this story. Please review! I love all the support :)**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Zach POV

I hung up the cell phone, aware that Rachel Morgan was still regarding me with suspicion. I wasn't sure whether or not to feel relief over the fact that Cammie didn't know yet, or horror that she would find out soon enough. "You haven't told her?" I asked, sounding defeated even to my own ears.

Rachel looked down in an uncommon display of pity… or was it guilt? "No, I came to you first. Hopefully, she will never find out."

I was shocked at her admission. "You mean that you would keep it from her?" I swallowed to keep my anger at bay.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Ah yes, the famous Goode temper. Please, please- don't attempt to contain your anger for my sake. Tell me what you really think of me Zach."

I refused to meet her eye as I tried to keep my voice from raising. "It's not _right_. Cammie deserves to know what happened to him. It- it eats her apart every day… She deserves better."

"Listen to yourself for a minute, Zachery. What you are telling me to do is break my daughter's heart. Not only will I have to tell her that her father is dead, but I will also, for all intents and purposes, be killing her fiancée as well. Yes, I know what you were doing in that jewelry store, I was not born _yesterday_. If I tell Cameron right now, that Matthew is dead and he was killed by _you_… she will never forgive either of us. So don't look at me as if you know what is best for my daughter because you _don't._"

I sat down on the curb and rested my head in my hands- a universal sign of defeat. "Mrs. Morgan." My voice was broken and borderline hopeless as I raised my last-ditch petition. "I know your daughter. You don't think I do, but I do, I promise you." Rachel was shaking her head, already ready to interrupt me, but I stopped her.

"I know that she's as stubborn as hell and she never takes 'no' for an answer. I know how fiercely loyal she is when it comes to her friends and family. I know there are times when she's reckless and crazy and times when she's annoyingly cautious. I know about her propensity for getting herself nearly killed. I know that she hates being wrong but almost never is in the first place. I know how blue her eyes look in the moonlight and how her face lights up when she looks out at Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I know how much she hates motorcycles and I know that she makes the best pancakes in the world, possibly universe." I paused to take a breath before saying the next words.

"I know that I'm in love with her, and I know that she needs to know the truth about that night. Even if it means I'll never get to see her again."

Rachel was silent for a long time. I could tell she was thinking about what I said, thinking about whether or not to make me a deal, give me one last shot. She sighed. "I want you to know that I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for Cammie. Here's the deal. Tell her everything. If she still wants you after that… well then we'll move from there, I suppose." She said, already beginning to walk away.

I took the compromise readily, under the assumption that Rachel Morgan was not the type of woman who often dealt out second-chances. "Oh and Zach?" She threw over her shoulder. "I wouldn't wait too long if I were you." She gave me one last piercing look before turning around a corner and disappearing from sight.

I clutched my cell phone tightly in my fist as if it were the only thing keeping me tethered to the bitter earth. I set off with only one thought racing through my mind-

_I have to see her_.

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

I got home at around nine o'clock, exhausted from the day's general craziness. The only thing that stopped me from just renting a hotel room at the airport instead of just driving home was the fact that Zach would be there, waiting for me.

I longed to relax on the couch and tell him of Macey's insanity and Nick's stupidity and the crying baby on the plane and the couple arguing in Taiwanese in the terminal and…

And for once, I just kind of wanted to sit at home and pretend that for a moment, we were normal. _I _was normal. That these cover lives that we're living aren't fake. That Zach is just a school teacher and I'm just a receptionist and we live together in a two bedroom apartment and everything is right in the world. I'd like to forget for a night, just one night, that I know how to defuse a bomb and speak nineteen languages and kill a man using only a paperclip. Forget that Zach's mother is a terrorist and my father has been missing for far too long now and Bex and Grant are off somewhere on a mission, possibly in danger.

I threw my keys on the counter and heard the shower running, smiling to myself. Good, I can surprise him. I started rummaging through the fridge, looking for something to eat. Because of my refusal to eat airplane food, I haven't eaten anything since this afternoon and I was close to starved.

The background noise of the shower went off just as I started making myself a sandwich. A few minutes later, Zach came out, rubbing a towel through his still-wet hair. His white t-shirt clung to his body. "Hey, I thought that was you." He said, walking in and giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, I just got in. How are you? Your first day go well?" I asked, taking a bite out of my artfully made sandwich.

"My first-? Oh, yeah, yeah, fine." He looked unusually awkward. He shifted from foot to foot and avoided eye contact. "Um, why don't you sit down? We… we have to talk." He stated, gesturing to a chair with his hand.

"Uh-oh. Sounds serious." I teased with a snicker, never the less conceding and taking a seat at the kitchen table.

He sat down too, putting his hands on the table and looking at his palms intently. I had never seen him look so nervous before. "I, um… I met your mom today."

My eyebrows shot up. "Did you? She didn't tell me she was in town! Where? Did she know who you were- I mean, of course she knows who you _are_, but did she know we were, uh… dating? She didn't give you a hard time, did she?" I asked, a grin blooming on my face. I hadn't seen my mom in a couple of months and it was great to know she was safe.

Zach was stumbling for words, he seemed incapable of finishing a sentence. "No, she, uh… I- I… we just… she didn't… I killed your Dad, Cammie!" He finally exploded, snapping his mouth shut almost immediately after the words were uttered, a shocked, dumb-struck look on his face.

The smile I had previously word melted off instantly. "That's not funny, Zach." I looked away.

"No, Cammie, Cammie, listen to me." He begged, grabbing both of my hands and clasping them in his. He got out of his chair and kneeled down in front of me so that we were eye-level. "Sweetheart, look at me." He asked, and I did.

That's when I knew he wasn't joking.

He took a deep breath and started speaking as I tumbled further and further down into this rabbit-hole, further down into this nightmare-ish oblivion from which there was no escape.

"Six years ago, there was a mission." He started off in a whisper. With each word, the aching in my chest grew more pronounced. "I was working with the CIA as a double agent. My job was to stall my mother for long enough while Solomon and the rest of the agents broke into The Circle's headquarters. My mother had been suspicious of me for a while, and she aimed to test my loyalty by…" He stopped, and although his eyes remained fixed on mine, it was clear that he was in another place.

"By what, Zach? By what?" My voice shook. I didn't want to hear, but at the same time, I _needed_ to hear.

"By killing an agent. By killing your father." He hung his head and gripped my hands a little tighter, as if he was afraid I was going to evaporate into thin air.

There was silence for a long time.

"Zach, please let go of me." I said finally.

"No, Cammie, please. I can't let you go, I won't." He said, holding me only tighter.

"Let go of me Zach. Let go!" I said a little louder, my voice gaining some conviction.

"No!" He responded, matching my increasing volume.

"Zach, you're hurting me, let go!" I screamed. He released me immediately, staggering back as if I had slapped him across the face.

We stared at each other a few seconds, both of us breathing heavily. "I'm so sorry." Zach whispered brokenly, breaking the silence.

I turned around and ran out the door, never stopping to look back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! Sup. I've been super busy lately so please excuse my poor updating habits. Here's a little bit longer than usual chapter to pacify you. I was going to stop it right before he told her but I thought you deserved better than that. Hope y'all are enjoying your summer :) Please review!**


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Zach POV

Three weeks.

Three weeks it's been, and I still can't find her. I hardly sleep or eat, hell, she's all I can think about. And it's only been three weeks. I don't know how I lived without her before. It isn't until she was gone that I realized just how alone I am without her.

You would think that one of the best-trained agents in the whole CIA would be able to find his own girlfriend- a person he knows practically inside and out. But then again, they don't call her "The Chameleon" for nothing.

But I know, deep down, that even if I never see her again and I live my life in the perpetual misery of not knowing, I'll have deserved it. It will be my fault and mine alone. I killed her father. And I can never take that back.

I wonder much time has to pass before I'm just supposed to give up. How much longer until I'm supposed to pretend to move on? How much longer till I have to stop looking?

In part, I've already embraced that reality. I was still searching for her, but anyone who even looked at me could see I'd given up.

I sat on the couch in our (my) apartment with my feet up on the table even though she always yelled at me to take them off because they left marks on the glass. I casually drank from my third tumbler full of scotch that night. Alcohol was the only thing that went down the same way anymore.

An obnoxious banging on the door pulled me from my reflective trance and I sighed before getting up reluctantly to answer it. The banging continued impatiently and I sneered at the door, taking my damn time just to piss off whomever it was doing the banging. "Open the _door_ Goode, I know you're in there!" The voice of Macey McHenry yelled through the wooden barricade.

I rolled my eyes and yanked open the door, not knowing why I expected anything less from the likes of McHenry. She stormed in the second the door opened, walking in like she owned the place.

"Yeah, please, come in, make yourself at home." I said sarcastically, taking another swig from the glass still in my hand.

"_What did you do?_" She screamed at me, pointing her finger accusingly and getting right to the point.

I scowled at her, unaffected by her volume. I leaned behind me to shut the door. "Keep it down, will you? I don't want the neighbors calling in for a noise complaint."

"Not until you _tell me_ why my best friend won't answer my _calls, texts or emails_ like she's suddenly dropped off the face of the _planet_! _Tell me_ what you did!" She seethed, stepping closer each word as if she was stalking her prey.

My scowl merely deepened, the alcohol running through my system clouding my judgment and making me wholly uncooperative. "Why do you just _assume_ I did something wrong?" I replied, my rejoinder echoing weak even to my not-entirely-sober brain.

"Did you cheat on her?" She spat at me, looking borderline homicidal.

"What? No! God, no!"

"Then why is she _gone_?" She screeched, pushing my violently into the wall, so hard that the shelves shook, knocking off a snow globe and sending it toppling to the ground. If it weren't for my spy reflexes, I wouldn't have caught it and it would have shattered into a million pieces on the hardwoods.

I bought that snow globe for Cammie on our first date. It was of the Eiffel Tower. She stared at it for about ten minutes, shaking it and watching the fake snow fall with this childlike wonder. Finally I just smirked at her and handed ten Euros to the cashier and told Cammie she could keep it.

"You almost broke it!" I snapped, responding to her anger for the first time since she walked through the door.

She didn't appear to care, not diverging from her repetitive line of questioning. "Where is she? What did you do? Tell me! Tell-"

"I screwed up! Okay? I _screwed up_. I don't know where she is. She isn't coming back." I told her just to get her to shut up. She stared back at me with obvious disgust on her face. I didn't need to deal with this. Sure, I deserved it, but that didn't mean I had to put up with it.

"Get out of my house." I told her, pointing to the door. I didn't turn around to see if she if she followed my order, going back to the coffee table where the bottle of opened scotch sat, just waiting for me to pour myself another glass.

"You're pathetic." I heard her from behind me, whispering this time.

I turned around violently and threw the glass at the wall, watching as it just barely missed her head and smashed against the drywall, nearly obliterating upon contact. She didn't even flinch. "Goddamnit, Macey! You think I need _you_ to tell me that? You think I don't already _know_? If I wanted a lecture I would have called you up on the phone myself!" I yelled, my voice raw.

We blinked at each other for a few moments. She appeared to be waiting as my burst of anger dissipated. It did.

"Here's what confuses me." She replied, stepping towards me again, unafraid. "You say you didn't cheat on her so she didn't leave you. You're clearly still in love with her so you didn't kick her out. You're not out looking for her so she wasn't taken, kidnapped, or in danger. So I can't really think of any other possibilities."

I gave a humorless laugh, sitting down on the couch and putting my head in my hands. "I wish I cheated on her. That would be so much easier to fix."

I felt the cushion sink down next to me as Macey sat down. "Tell me." She ordered, much softer this time.

And I did. Everything, from the very beginning- about my mother being a terrorist about seeing Cammie's mom and everything that happened that night when she ran away into the street. How I followed Cammie out when she ran away but the second she was out on that street she was gone. She never came back to get her stuff like I thought she would.

Macey waited patiently, not interrupting once, much to my surprise. When I finished, she only had one question to ask. "How much of this did Cammie hear?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does she know all of the details surrounding Matthew Morgan's death?"

I was taken aback. "Jesus, no. I'm not going to paint her an intricate picture of me shooting her father."

Macey glared. "That's not what I meant, clearly. Look. Everyone makes rash decisions in the heat of the moment, and Cammie's been known for doing that. You have your issues, Zach, but you're right for Cammie. So we're going to go find her."

"I already _looked_ McHenry, I told you she's dissape- Hey! What the hell are you doing?" She had gotten up out off the couch, grabbed my bottle of scotch and poured it into the sink, emptying it completely.

I gaped at her as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Where's the rest of it?"

"That was a two hundred dollar bottle of scotch!"

"I need you sober if we have any chance of finding her." She replied as if it were obvious, going through cabinets in search of the rest of my liquor.

"Alright, alright!" I exclaimed, holding my hands up in surrender. "I get it, no more drinking, fine. Do you have an idea where she might be?" I asked, changing the subject in hope it would diverge her from her current task.

I was right. She stood up and smirked evilly at me, looking me right in the eye. "I've got a few."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Right, so, question of this chapter is- Where do you think Cammie went? Winner or winners get a shout-out in the next chapter as well as a sneak preview of the next chapter (delivered via PM). Also, as to the person who asked if I was still going to post "Hostage Situation", the answer is yes, after this one is finished. Reviews make Zach smirk.**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Zach POV

"It's just a little bit further down this way, then a left turn and then a… right? Or is it forward?" McHenry pinched the bridge of her nose as she appeared to be deep in thought.

"We're lost. Well that's comforting. We'll just be trapped in this dingy sewer for the rest of our lives and Cammie is still nowhere to be found. Perfect." I kicked the brick wall, trying to find an outlet to my frustration.

Macey had brought me to some perfect-looking suburban town in the middle of Virginia so that we could wander in their waterways. Why Cammie would ever be _here_ is beyond me.

"Suck it up and stop acting like such a pansy. I'll _find it_, alright? Cammie was always much better at this stuff than me."

"What _stuff_?" I asked, unsure of what she was referring to.

"_This_! Gallagher, secret passages, rooms, entryways, etcetera." Macey lifted her hands in the air, gesturing to the space around us.

I nearly dropped my flashlight in surprise. _This_ was Gallagher? I'd heard stories about it, but I had never actually been here before, or even known where it was to be honest. It was starting to make sense now.

"Aha!" Macey exclaimed, pressing her hand into a brick that I failed to find even the slightest bit unique. The wall collapsed under her palm, dissolving away to reveal a room, filled with bookshelves and a carpet and big plushy chairs and a barely-burning fireplace. The room was well-lit and there was an oriental carpet on the ground, along with wood paneling and various decorations hanging on the walls.

The only thing it was missing… was _Cammie_.

"Damnit! Damnit, damnit, _damnit_!" Macey cursed at the empty room, walking in and flinging open wardrobes, cabinets, anything that could possibly be concealing a clue to her location. "She _has _to be here there's no other place!" She collapsed into the chair, her body shuddering from the effort of holding back tears.

"You're not the only one who's looking." A sonorous voice arose from behind us, a voice that I recognized immediately.

"_Mrs_. _Morgan_?" Macey raised her head from her hands, getting up and throwing her arms around the woman as if she were greeting a long-lost companion. "I don't know where she went. She's gone and I'm afraid she's never coming back." I could hear her whisper into Rachel's hair, divulging vulnerability she would never dare show to me.

"It'll be alright, Macey." Rachel comforted her, sounding unconvincing.

I stood in the background, awkwardly aware that I wasn't on the best of terms with Rachel Morgan. She made eye contact with me as Macey untangled herself from her arms. "I came here a few hours ago and found the room like this. She can't have been gone that long. But knowing Cammie, she's probably halfway across the world by now."

When she spoke, I understood. All was not forgiven. Nothing was forgiven. But our one remaining similarity, the one person who continued to connect us, was missing. And we would be civil, we would work together, for her sake.

I took a quick survey of the room, trying to notice anything out of the ordinary. "Did she leave anything behind?" I felt compelled to ask.

Rachel shook her head, a slight air of disappointment radiating from her. "No, unfortunately. But from what I can tell, she has been in my office. I found things the slightest bit out of place. I believed she hacked into my computer, but from what I can discern, she did nothing more than look at pictures. When I came in here, the old family album with pictures of Matthew in it was tilted the wrong way on the bookshelf." She walked over and ran her fingers along the spines of the books as she spoke, plucking the picture album out from its spot on the shelf and flipping through the pages.

She smiled a bit nostalgically, seeming to get lost in her thoughts. "We used to come in here, together, on the days we would miss him more than usual. We would flip through these books and laugh at old memories together."

Macey sniveled from behind us, her hands clasped together as she breathed words she seemed as reluctant to say as I was to hear. "It's like she's going back to all the places that remind her of people she loves… so that she can… can _forget_ them."

"And then what?" I echoed the words I knew we were all thinking.

Does she disappear forever? Does she move on, start a new life in some far-off country where no one could ever find her? Does she change her name, never think of us again? Or does she do something infinitesimally worse, something I refuse to even think, to consider?

"Zach," Macey started, her voice sounding like she was on the verge of some great burst of insight. "Cammie loves _you_."

"I don't know anymore." I deflated, sinking into a chair before the dimming embers of the fire.

"What would be the one place Cammie would go if she had to say goodbye to _you_?"

My eyes, which had just been closed, shot open. My mind drifted off and I remembered a windy, cold night and a thousand twinkling city lights, and looking down from a great height and feeling as though you could capture the world up in your hands and grasp it and never let go again. And I remembered the snow globe, and her wonder as she tipped it upside down again and again to watch the white flecks of snow float down to coat the scene in ivory.

I stood up from my chair, feeling reenergized as I turned to Rachel, my hope restored. "How quickly can you get us to Paris?"

* * *

><p><span>Cammie POV<span>

I sighed, leaning closer to the edge of the tower as I felt the wind blow through my newly cropped, now raven-black hair. I had seen Zach's familiar face in the crowd of people earlier, but I just didn't have it in me to run away right now. I knew it was only a matter of minutes, seconds perhaps, until he saw me. For once in my life, I chose not to hide, not to run, and not to fight. I gave in, I resigned myself to fate.

So naturally, I wasn't all that surprised when he came to stand next to me not a minute later. "You cut your hair." Those were the first words he said to me. Weeks of separation after a heart wrenching realization and these are the first words he says.

"Dyed it, too." I responded. If he wanted to dance around the inescapable conversation that needed to be had, then I would as well.

"It looks pretty."

"Thank you."

"Did you really think I would just let you _leave_, Gallagher Girl?" He changed the conversation from light chatter to heavy confrontation so quickly that my mind had to do a bit of scrambling to catch up.

I chose not to respond, pushing myself on the railing, tipping the front half of my body over the edge of the tower so far that my feet lifted ever so slightly from the floor and I balanced on the handrail for the barest of seconds.

"Stop that." Zach sounded uncomfortable as he watched me, the top of my body close to dangling off the edge.

"Stop what?" I teased, continuing to do it.

"You know _what_."

I sighed, my fun ruined as he grabbed me by the hips and pulled my feet down so they touched concrete yet again. "Don't you just love it here, Zach? The Eiffel Tower?" I gestured out to the view of Paris. "Look at how big the world is. Look at how much we haven't seen."

He looked at me suspiciously, off-put by my seemingly natural behavior. "Yes, it's nice." He was humoring me at least, that was good.

"Do you remember when we kissed here?" I got closer to him, looking up, deep into his green eyes that had transfixed me from the day we first met. "Would you kiss me again?"

This time, he surprised me. "No."

"No?" I asked, confused and a bit disappointed.

He shook his head, smiling slightly. "No, Cam. I won't kiss you. Because if I kiss you, I know what it will mean. You have this thing all planned in your head, don't you? You let me find you up here and we talk for a little bit and you feign happiness and everything is okay for ten minutes and you don't have to think about the rest of the world or all the shit that comes with real life. And we kiss like it's the first time again and for a moment it's just pure bliss and maybe you let me hold your hand as we walk down the Eiffel Tower together. But as soon as we get down there and I turn my head for a second, you disappear."

"You don't want a kiss, Cammie. You want a _goodbye_ kiss. You want one last happy memory of us together before you go disappear into the shadows like you always do. And that's _bullshit_. If there's going to be a last memory for us, then it's going to be of me telling you that I _love you_, Cammie. And I will never stop looking for you. You can change your name, dye your hair, move to Tibet, become a schoolteacher, but no matter where you go and no matter what you do, I will _always_ find you. So you might as well give up now, Gallagher Girl. You've finally met your match."

I gaped at him speechlessly and he kept going. "You can try to run, but your mother and Macey are both down there, waiting for you. You're good, Cam, but you're not that good. You can't slip past all of us. So I'll give you a couple options. We can talk _here_, or we can go somewhere else and talk, but it's going to happen, whether you like it or not."

I sighed, turning my back from him and looking back out at Paris instead. "_Why_, Zach? Why won't you just let me move on with my life, pretend that we never happened and forget all the bad parts? You say you love me, but you won't let me leave you. What kind of love is that?"

He rested his elbows on the banister, talking out at the city instead of at me. "Maybe I would have let you do that, at one point. But we're past that point. I think we both know that you're never going to be able to forget about me, no matter how much you want to. Just like I'm never going to move on from you. We're past the point of no return, Cam. If we go on like this, without one another, we'll just be subjecting ourselves to unnecessary misery. I'm not going to let you ignore the truth."

"I wish…" I started in a whisper, only to cut myself off when I realized how horrible it sounded. He wouldn't let me off the hook, though.

"What? What do you wish?" He pressed, touching my chin and turning my head so that he could look at me.

"I wish you were easier to hate. I wish I could just hate you because you killed my dad and then I could have closure and someone to blame. But you're still here and I still love you and it's just so goddamn confusing."

He remained quiet throughout my confession. A minute or two passed, and finally he held his hand out to me. "Come on. Let's go talk."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sooooo I know you really don't want to hear my excuses as to why I haven't updated so I'm not going to even bother. Instead, I will sincerely promise that I will finish this story no matter how long it takes me. And shout-out to ISpyANinjaAndItsMe, BellaGoode, laugh love life, and kuromaychan, who all guessed Paris or the Eiffel Tower. If you got it right and I forgot about you, PM me and I'll… well actually I don't know what I'll do, but you can suggest something and I'll see what I can do. Maybe I could write a one-shot for you or something. Also, how do you like the cover I made for the story? I spent a while looking for a good picture :)**


	35. Chapter 35

**Quick Update: Macey and Nick got hitched. Zach went to go buy a ring, and then met Rachel (again), who reveals that a man whom Zach killed a long time ago was actually Cammie's father. When Zach tells Cammie, she runs. Macey meets up with Zach, who is having a brief stint with alcoholism, and beats some sense into him. Macey, Rachel, and Zach find Cammie in Paris, and Zach confronts her and tells her they have to talk. Resume scene.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 35<span>

Zach POV

I took her to a café- a quiet one, off the beaten path. I had nodded to her mother and to Macey on the way out, letting them know silently to give us a little time. Cammie was still guarded, her walls were still up, firmly in place, but that's okay. I have time. I'll spend my whole life dissembling them brick by brick if that's what it takes.

When the waiter came around, I ordered for the both of us in fluent, unmarred French. Cammie still looked a little dazed- like she still wasn't sure how I had convinced her to come along with me.

"Gallagher Girl?" I murmured, trying to get a reaction. "Will you at least drink something? When was the last time you ate?"

She looked up at me, her doe eyes blinking. She shrugged. I sighed, pushing the glass of water closer to her. "Have some water."

She complied, but her eyes still flicked around like a caged animal. It was starting to become clear that I would have to initiate any sort of conversation. "Do you want to talk abou-"

"Did you know?" She interrupted me, blurting out the question so suddenly it took me a second to catch up.

"Know…?" I questioned, leaning closer to her.

"This whole time? Did you know that you killed him? How long did you keep it from me?"

"I- I- Cammie- I never-" I was at a loss for words. She thought I had _kept this_ from her. She thought I had just let her remain in the dark, suffering from the pain of not knowing. "I didn't know. I didn't know until Ra- until your mother told me."

She looked away again and it was quiet for a long while. "I don't blame you." She whispered, and while it was somewhat of a relief to hear, I was still waiting for the 'but.' "I just… I don't know what to think anymore."

I wanted so bad to just reach out and grab her hand, but something in me told me it was too soon for that. "It's okay to be confused, Gallagher Girl. But running away isn't the answer."

"Why can't it be? Why can't I just start over somewhere, someplace where the people don't speak twelve different languages and know eighteen ways to kill me with this napkin?" She said, clutching the white cloth in her fist. "Someplace where people don't lie, or cheat, or try to kill me? Or kill _each other?_"

To hell with it, I decided, covering her hand with my large palm, entwining our fingers. "Because," I explained, feeling the electricity strum through our touching skin. "Lies or no lies, death or no death, you can't tell me that you don't feel _this_." I said, giving her hand a little squeeze.

"This is it, Cammie. This is all I'll ever have. This is _more_ than I've ever even wished for. I don't have a family, my mother is a terrorist and father is god-only-knows what. But I have you. And I'm pretty damn hell-bent on keeping you."

She opened her mouth to say something, but I wasn't finished. "I love you, damnit. And I am so, so, sorry for killing your dad. If I had known- If I could have gone back and done it all over again, I would have never pulled the trigger. But I can't change the past and I can't bring him back and I can't make it _okay_¸ Cam, I really can't. But I want- I _need_ to do all that I can to make up for it. I have to be in your life, in whatever capacity you'll have me- whether that's your husband or your boyfriend or your friend or just your coworker. Just tell me what you need, Cammie, and I'll be that for you."

She looked a little bit stunned, a little bit overwhelmed as I continued to clutch on to her hand like it was my lifeboat in a storm. When she found her voice, it was little more than a whisper. "Did you… did you just say _husband_?"

My heart stopped for a millisecond as I replayed the conversation in my head, realizing too late that the word had slipped out. I became very conscious of the ring, feeling it almost burning a hole in my pocket. I carry that ring with me every waking moment of the day, whether as a cruel reminder to myself of what could have been or as an optimistic hope for the future, I'm not sure.

"Zach?" My name slipped from her lips as she gazed up at me.

I didn't know what to say, so instead I just untangled her fingers and reached into my pocket; setting the ring down in such an unceremonious manner that I was positive she would say no. Not to mention the fact that the timing was about as wrong as it could ever be.

I could hear her soft breaths, hitching and then picking up speed ever so slightly. "Is this…?"

My heart beat wildly in my chest. "Marry me, Cammie. Marry me and I'll spend every second of every day making it up to you."

She looked dumbfounded for another moment, but something seemed to click in her brain and she looked up at me, making eye contact for the first time, her jaw set in defiance. "I'm not going to marry you so you can repay some stupid debt you think you owe me, Zach."

I knew the blow was coming. I deserved it. I deserved every insult, every blow, this girl decided to send my way. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt, though.

Numbly, I closed my fingers around the ring, drawing my hand back. I made it halfway across the table before she stopped me, reaching out and putting her hand over mine.

"I said: I'm not going to marry you for you to repay some imaginary debt." She repeated, turning my hand over and taking the ring out as she spoke.

"I'm going to marry you because I'm in love with you." And with that she slipped the ring on her finger, watching as it sparkled under the dim rays of moonlight.

It way my turn to be dumbfounded, it would seem, because all I could do was stare at her (my _fiancée) _as she leaned across the table and kissed me softly and lingeringly on the lips. She tasted like freshly picked strawberries, and I knew in that moment that I would never love anything in the world more than I loved her right now.

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><p><strong>AN: You can tell it's been too long since my last update when _I_ have to go back and read the last couple of chapters to remember where I am. I know you don't want to hear my excuses, but I'm super-duper sorry I had AP exams and regular exams and soooo much classwork and OMG COLLEGE and aaahhhhh no time for fanfiction. But hey, it's summer now! So I'll have more time to write- and one the bright side this only has like one chapter left (the epilogue). So I am ALMOST FINISHED. Phew.**


	36. Chapter 36

Epilogue

Cammie POV

"_CAMMIE_!" Macey's voice shrieked. A hallway and several closed doors stood between us, but she was so loud I could hear her voice as clear as day. "The wedding starts in _ten minutes._ Where the _hell_ are you?!"

"Mmph." I murmured, my words rendered inaudible by Zach's mouth plastered against mine. I tried to step back, release myself for a moment to get a breath, but there was nowhere to go in the small dark closet and I ended up with even less space between Zach's body and mine.

I tried leaning my head back instead, thumping it on the back of the door. Zach saw this as an opportunity to begin kissing his way down my neck, and I struggled to find the will to tell him to stop.

"Zach." I whispered, my voice much breathier than I was accustomed to.

"Mm?" He hummed, his lips not leaving my skin.

"The wedding."

"Screw the wedding." He mumbled with a bite to my neck. "We're staying right here, in this closet."

I laughed breathlessly. "As lovely as that sounds, I think Macey might _actually_ kill me."

He actually listened this time, much to my surprise, sighing and burying his head in the crook of my neck.

"_CAMERON!" _I heard again, louder this time. If I waited much longer, they would probably be able to hear Macey in the church.

Zach picked his head up and rolled his eyes. "Let's go, for Christ's sake. Before she implodes." He said, reaching past me to open the door and letting light flood the dark little broom closet.

I hadn't taken two steps out of the closet before I heard Macey's voice yet again. "You have _got_ to be kidding me." I turned, seeing her a few paces down the hall, staring between me and Zach and quickly putting the pieces together.

She stomped over, grabbing me by the arm like an angry mother, turning to Zach and scolding him first. "You," She said in an accusatory voice, pointing to the brown-haired smirking boy to my left. "Go find Nick and the other boys. Think about what you've done."

"Don't worry McHenry," His smirk grew as his eyes slid to mine. "I will." He promised with a wink.

"Ugh, don't be foul." She rolled her eyes, walking away and dragging me with her. "I can't believe I have to redo your hair and makeup right now. _Zach_, I expected this kind of stunt from, but I honestly expected more from you." She chastised, laying the guilt on thick.

She practically shoved me down in the chair back in the dressing room, running around me with a hairbrush and powder as Bex and Liz popped into the room.

"Oh, thank god. She found you. I just about thought we would have to call in the artillery." Bex grumbled, fluffing her own hair in the mirror.

Liz giggled behind her hand when she looked up, noticing my flushed and freshly-kissed state. "Well, I guess we know where she was."

Macey made an exasperated noise, moving at a frenzied pace with her bronzer and eye-shadow. "Mace." I stated, grabbing her hands and stopping her hurried retouching. "Calm down. It'll be perfect. Everything will be perfect." She nodded, listening for once, taking a deep breath.

There was a knock on the door and a voice informed us that it was time. Liz got up and brushed the invisible crumbs off of her bridesmaid's dress, delicately picking up her bouquet of green and lavender flowers, giving Macey a quick hug before she left to get in line.

"C'mon." Bex said, grabbing some flowers for herself on her way out. "Let's go kick this wedding in the ass!"

I grabbed Macey's hand and we walked out together. We got to my place in the line and I stopped, about to let go, but Macey just tugged me along, refusing to release her grip. She was more nervous than she let on.

"There's my girl." Former Vice President (and current Presidential candidate) McHenry stood at the front of the procession, his suit pressed and his smile as wide and as fake as ever. "You look beautiful, honey. White really suits you."

"Thanks, Dad." Macey said quietly.

I gave her hand a squeeze to remind her I was still there. She turned around and wrapped me into one last hug.

"Three minutes!" Someone quietly announced from somewhere in the line.

Macey was shaking a little bit.

"What if something bad happens?" Macey whispered hurriedly, just low enough for me to hear. "With my Dad here there are news cameras everywhere. What if I screw up?"

"And do what? Lose a fake eyelash or forget to say 'I do?' You'll be fine, Mace." I whispered back, hugging her tighter.

"No, I'm serious." She was more nervous than I thought. "What if I trip or cry or throw up or something? My parents will never talk to me again! It'll be a media nightmare for them."

I rubbed circles around her back, trying to comfort her. "Macey. No matter what happens today, Nick will still love you. I will still love you. Bex and Liz, and- god help them- all of the rest of our Blackthorne boys will still love you. We're family. We're not going to ever _stop_ loving you, even if you have to sneeze in the middle of your wedding vows."

She was quiet for a second, and when she spoke her voice was uncharacteristically wavering. "I'm glad you came home, Cammie."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Me too."

With that she let go, straightened her back, took her father's hand, and became the Macey we all knew and loved. I scrambled back to my place in line just in time and the doors flung open, the orchestra playing in the background.

The ceremony went perfectly, of course. Macey looked radiant and I think Nick's smile was damn near permanent.

The diamond ring I wore on my own hand felt like it grew heavier and heavier with each passing second, and it seemed like I could hardly wait until my own day when I stood up there in a white dress, Zach standing opposite me.

And as Macey and Nick where exchanging "I do's," I looked up, catching the eye of my fiancé, the best man. It was no more than a split second, but as his green eyes softened with his smile, I knew.

This is real love.

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><p><strong>AN: That's all folks. I started this story three years ago and I've done nothing but grow. Thanks for sticking with me. This is the first story I ever wrote on this site, and I loved every second of it. If it weren't for you people sticking with me this whole time, it never would have been finished. I will sadly press the "complete" button, but **_**Going Under**_** (and all of you) will always stay with me.**


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